In the quest to produce an acceptable local beverage that could serve as an alternative variety to kunun-zaki for many millions of Nigerians who take the cereal-based beverage as their most preferred and affordable drink a study was undertaken to assess the microbial and sensory quality attributes of laboratory-produced Date fruit-based kunun-zaki. Different blends of dry date fruits (Phoenix dactylifera) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) formulated as follows; F1 (100:0), F2 (70:30), F3 (50:50), and F4 (30:70%) of date fruits/sorghum were soaked overnight in water, drained and were wet-milled with ginger and cloves using an equal volume of sterile water, F5 (0:100) was market (Control) sample. The microbial succession study included the identification of organisms at various critical stages of the production of the beverage. The results of the study showed the mean pH, and TTA (%) values for the respective formulated Kunun-dabino product were F1 (4.87 and 0.3870), F2 (4.66 and 0.4508), F3 (4.29 and 0.4600), F4 (4.04 and 0.4690), F5/Control (4.32 and 0.4589) respectively. The mean Total bacterial, coliform and fungal loads of the four experimental products were 2.58 x 104, NIL, and 3.56 x 103 CFU/ml respectively which fall within W.H.O’s recommended standards for ready-to-eat foods. Species of Bacillus, Enterobacter, Shigella, Lactobacillus, Aspergillus, Penicillium Mucur, and Candida were present at the initial production stage while Bacillus and Lactobacillus species persisted right through to the final stage of production. The results of the sensory evaluation showed that while F1 was the least liked, F3 was significantly preferred over the other samples (P < 0.05). The study has shown that ‘Kunun dabino’ produced under the laboratory conditions in this study provides a new brand of beverage that is both microbiologically safe and organoleptically more acceptable to taste panelists.
Among the potential benefits of probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is their practical use for biopreservation of foods, fungal decontamination, and novel biotherapy. A number of ready to eat foods hawked in streets of Nigeria such as garri are prone to contamination by mycotoxin-producing fungi. In this study the inhibitory effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (sourced from local foods (nono and kunun- zaki)) and their bacteriocins-derivatives on aflatoxin B1 -producing Aspergelius flavus was conducted. Out of the five LAB isolates screened three (two strains of Lactococcus and one of Pediococcus sp had high indices of probiotic potentials and bacteriocins extracts were obtained from them and used for the inhibition study. Fourty samples of garri sold in Jos metropolis were screened for A. flavus and their abilities to produce Aflatoxin B1 using the Coconut Extract Agar (CEA) and Ammonia Vapour Test (AVP) methods. The three most probiotic LAB and their respective crude baterioncin extracts were used to test for their inhibitory effect on aflatoxin producing A. flavus isolates. The results of the study showed that while only 17 samples (42.50%) had A. flavus in them, only three of the fungi ((17.65%) demonstrated capacity to produce Aflatoxin B1, making (7.5% of the total number of garri samples that had aflatoxin-producing A. flavus. The inhibition of fungal growth by LAB and bacteriocins was dose dependent. At an inoculum concentration of 1 ml, Pediococcus sp had the highest mean zone of inhibition of 43.0 mm followed by Lactococcus sp (Strain LAC20G with radial diameter 38.0mm and Lactococcus sp (LAC20G) which had a radial diameter of 29.3mm respectively. The results of the study portend that the growth of aflatoxin producing Aspergillus flavus in ready to eat foods such as garri could be prevented by application of appropriate dosages of bacteriocins extracts from lactic acid bacteria.
Studies were carried out on the abilities of four aquatic phycomycetes species isolated from crude oil polluted marine , brackish and fresh water environments in Nigeria to utilize refined Petroleum and Petroleum products as sole sources of carbon. The said species of fungi included Brevilegnia indica, Protoachyla paradoxa, Saprolegnia bhargavi and Thraustotheca clavata. They were grown on fungal culture media which contained mineral salts solution, refined petroleum, kerosene and diesel as sole sources of carbon and agar as a solidifying agent. Two concentrations of each of the resulting oil agar media were used vis 1% and 2%. The resultant medium was then used to culture each of the test fungi in triplicates. The resultant culture plates were then incubated at 25 O C and left for daily observation. The test fungi that grew on each medium were observed for their abilities to emulsify the refined petroleum or its products (diesel and kerosene). Control experiments were also set up using Malt Extract Agar medium. Brevilegnia indica grew on 1% European Scientific Journal January 2018 edition Vol.14, No.3 ISSN: 1857 -7881 (Print) e -ISSN 1857-7431 241 petroleum and diesel growth media but did not grow on kerosene medium. Protoachyla paradoxa grew minimally on diesel medium at 1% and 2% compositions. Saprolegnia bhargavi did not grow on the petroleum agar medium or petroleum products media. Thraustotheca clavata grew minimally on the kerosene medium at both 1% and 2% compositions. The four test fungi emulsified the diesel agar medium at both 1% and 2% compositions. Brevilegnia indica emulsified only petrol at 1% while Non of the isolates emulsified the kerosene medium at both 1% and 2% compositions. Oil globules were also observed in the vegetative hyphae of the test fungi which grew on the experimental culture media. This means that such fungi either degraded or accumulated the petrol or petroleum products in their systems.
Abilities of Achyla orion and Allomyces anomalus isolated from some crude oil polluted aquatic environments in Nigeria to biodegrade petroleum and petroleum products were determined. Baiting method using hemp and sesame seeds was used to isolate the two species of aquatic phycomycetes. The species were grown in liquid broth culture made of minimal mineral salts supplemented separately with petrol, diesel and kerosene and incubated at room temperature with agitation for two weeks. Biodegradation was monitored using spectrophotometer at 600 nm wavelength. Fat/lipid was extracted from pellets resulting from centrifugation of the final broth culture using selected fat extractor and quantified. A. anomalus gave highest mean growth values in broth medium supplemented with diesel (0.970) and kerosene (1.302) while that supplemented with petrol recorded the least mean growth value of 0.663. The mean growth values for A. orion showed a similar trend. Crude fat/lipid production was highest for both isolates grown in diesel supplemented broth culture medium and least for both isolates grown in petrol supplemented broth culture medium. These results imply that these two species of aquatic phycomycetes were able to degrade diesel and kerosene better than petrol with corresponding production/accumulation of fat/lipid as biodegradation product.
In an effort to find suitable starter cultures for enhancing the nutrient compositions of spent sorghum grains (SSG) and sweet potato leaves (SPL), three microorganisms, Aspergillus niger, Chaetomium globosum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were used in singles and in combinations to ferment SSG and SPL for 21 days at a temperature of 25 ± 2 o C. All the microbial treatments brought about increases in crude protein, crude fat and energy contents of both substrates, with accompanying reductions in crude fibre contents. SPL fermented with the combination of C. globosum and S. cerevisiae had the highest protein, fat and energy increases observed (96%, 368% and 10.2% respectively). The combination of C. globosum and S. cerevisiae also caused the highest crude fibre reduction in SSG (33.86%) while the combination of all three test organisms caused the highest crude fibre reduction in SPL (37.44%). Ash content increased in most cases while nitrogen free extract (NFE) values generally declined. The consortium of the three test organisms was concluded to be the best starter culture for enhancing the nutrient composition of SSG while the combination of C. globosum and S. cerevisiae was best for SPL.
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