Volume 59, Issue 328, April 2023

Microbiological safety assessment of two types of locally made cheese sold in Malete, Kwara State

Adedayo Majekodunmi Racheal, Shittu Bushola Rukayya^♦, Hammed Bukola C

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Kwara State University, Malete Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Cheese is a protein rich food with high nutritional benefits. Fulani cheese is a dairy product derived from milk that is produced in a wide range of flavors, textures and forms by coagulation of the milk protein while soy cheese is derived from the coagulation of soya beans milk. The study assesses the microbiological safety of Fulani and soy cheese sold in Malete, Kwara State. The cheese samples were purchased from local sellers in Malete village. Microbial isolation was done through serial dilution and pour plate technique; colonies obtained were identified morphologically and biochemically. The identified bacterial isolates were Salmonella, Enterobacter, Serratia, Klebsiella, Citrobacter, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas and Proteus sp while the fungal isolates were Penicillium, Rhodotorula, Aspergillus and Fusarium spp. Staphylococcus aureus had the highest percentage of occurrence in both cheese samples, followed by Salmonella and Klebsiella species. Most of the bacterial isolates are human pathogenic organisms. The fungal isolated are known food spoilage agents with potential of releasing mycotoxins in food. It was concluded that both Fulani and Soy bean cheese sold in Malete village are contaminated heavily and could pose health threat to consumer.

Keywords: Fulani cheese, Soy-bean cheese, Bacteria, Fungi, Pathogen

Discovery, 2023, 59, e44d1046

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Published: April 2023