PHYSICOCHEMICAL, NUTRITIONAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE STORED Akara ogbomoso A NIGERIAN INDIGENOUS BEAN CAKE
S. T. OGUNBANWO *
Department of Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
OLUWATOYIN OPEYEMI ADENRELE
Department of Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
C. O. ADEGOKE
Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Ogun State College of Health Technology, Ilese Ijebu, P.M.B. 2081, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Akara Ogbomoso is a plant protein that has constituted a means of livelihood among the traditional for a long period of time, however its short shelf live prompted the investigation of its physicochemical, nutritional and microbial analysis. A total of five (5) bacteria obtained from Akara Ogbomoso were identified as Bacillus cereus, Bacillus lencheniformis, Bacillus stratosphericus, Flavobacterium aqautile and Pseudomonas fluorescence. Bacillus cereus had the highest occurrence (33%) while Flavobacterium aqautile had lowest occurrence (7%). Macromolecule degrading ability of bacteria investigated revealed that Bacillus cereus had the largest cleared zone of 6.7mm while Bacillus stratosphericus had the lowest cleared zone of 6.2 mm for protease activity. Bacillus lencheniformis had the largest cleared zone of 6.8mm while Bacillus cereus had the lowest cleared zone of 5.6 mm for lipase activity. However, for amylase activity, Bacillus lencheniformis had the largest cleared zone of 10.6 mm while Flavobacterium aqautile had the lowest cleared zone of 6.8 mm. Utilization of oligosaccharide sugars by bacteria isolates revealed that Bacillus stratosphericus had the highest zone of clearance (9.1mm) for arabinose while Pseudomonas flouresence was the only bacterium that able to utilize raffinose with 9.5 mm zone of clearance. Bacillus stratosphericus was the only bacterium that was unable to utilize rhamnose. Proxmate analyses of Akara Ogbomoso (1 and 120 days) shows that protein, fat and carbohydrate was well utilized by the bacterial isolates. Protein content of sample AK1 reduced from 24.20% to 14.93% while that of sample AK2 reduced from 23.10% to 15.30%. Also, the fat content for sample AK1 reduced from 13.07% to 10.47 % while that of sample AK2 reduced from14.10 % to 11.43 % and carbohydrate content of sample AK1 reduced from 50.13 % to 47.87 % while that of sample AK2 reduced from 49.60% to 48.10% at the end of storage period. This research showed reduction in the nutritional value of the snack as a result of activities of bacteria enzymes that contaminated these snacks. The ingestion of contaminated snacks should be discouraged, proper preparation and packaging should be ensured to eliminate pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms in order to prolong the shelf life of the snacks.
Keywords: Akara Ogbomoso, enzymatic activity, microorganisms, shelf life