An investigation into the microbiological populations present in cocoa products

Abstract

The investigation into the microbiological populations present in the cocoa products, Boumvita and Richoco, purchased from "Mobil Mart" Supermarket and the Open Market on the bacterial loads ranged between 1.4 x 104 and 1.7 x 104 cfu/g in Boumvita purchased from the Supermarket and the Open market respectively. The bacterial loads ranged between 6.2 x 103 and 6.6 x 103 cfu/g in Richoco purchased from the supermarket and the open market respectively. The mould counts also ranged between 15 x 101 and 22 x 101 cfu/g in Boumvita purchased from the Supermarket and the Open Market respectively. The mould counts in the case ofRichoco from the Supermarket and the Open market ranged between <10 and 1 x 101 cfu/g respectively. The bacteria isolated from Boumvita and Richoco from both sampling sites were Bacillus species and coagulase negative Staphytococci (CONS), while the mould isolates were Mucor species, Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus niger, The mould count followed the same trend. From the recommended microbial limits per gram of cocoa, all the products were of good quality. The bacterial load in Boumvita from the Open market was slightly higher than that of Bournvita from the Supermarket. In the same trend, the bacterial load in Richoco from the Open market was higher than that of Richoco from the Supermarket. The mould count followed the same trend. From the recommended microbial limits per gram of cocoa, all the products were of good quality