ABSTRACT

Cereals is a grain used for food, examples are wheat, maize, rye, millet, sorghum, oat, rice, barley etc. it is a breakfast food made from roasted grain, typically eaten with milk. Cereals are seeds/grains of grasses and are cultivated in order to obtain the largest bounty of their fruit (seed) which consist of germ, endosperm, bran and is also referred to as the caryopsis. The aim of this study is to isolate and identify fungi associated with some cereal flours in Ikot Ekpene metropolis. The samples of this study were purchased from urua otoh and urua mbakara in Ikot Ekpene metropolis. The samples collected were semovita, oatmeal and plantain flours labeled as sample A, B and C respectively. The highest fungal count was observed in samples from urua otoh, semovita with the frequency occurrence of 4.0×10⁴ cfu/g while the lowest fungal count was observed in samples from urua mbakara, plantain flour with frequency occurrence of 1.0×10⁴ cfu/g. The fungal  isolates with their frequency of occurrence were Aspergillus sp with 71.4% and Rhizopus with 28.6%.The fungal contamination of this food samples is above the WHO permissible limit of <150 cfu/m³ which renders the food a potential health risk to consumers. It is recommended that manufacturers and marketers of these food samples should carry out strict microbiological examination of the products, while the market sellers improve their hygienic standard to avoid contamination of these food samples.

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1A: Total Fungal count of cereal flour

samples from market 1   –         –         –         –         –         –         27

Table 4.1 B: Total fungal count of cereal flour

sample form market 2      –         –         –         –         –         –         28

Table 4.2: Cultural and morphological characteristics

of fungal isolates    –         –         –         –         –         –         –         29

Table 4.3a: Frequency of occurrence of fungal

isolates in cereal flour sample from market 1 –         –         –         30

Table 4.3b: Frequency of Occurrence of fungal isolate in cereal flour samples from market 2 (Urua mbakara)-       –         –         –         –         31

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE        –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         i

CERTIFICATION –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         ii

DEDICATION      –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         iii

ACKOWLEDGEMENT  –         –         –         –         –         –         –         iv-v

ABSTRACT          –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         vi

LIST OF TABLE   –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         vii

TABLE OF CONTENT   –         –         –         –         –         –         –          viii-x

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study –         –         –         –         –         –         1-4

1.2     Aim and Objectives of the Study         –         –         –         –         4

1.3     Scope and Limitation       –         –         –         –         –         –         5

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1     Flour Meals  –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         6

2.2     Composition of Flour Meal        –         –         –         –         –         7

2.3     Oatmeal       –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         7-8

2.3.1  Food Uses of Oatmeal      –         –         –         –         –         –         9

2.4     Plantain Flour        –         –         –         –         –         –         –         10-11

2.4.1  Uses of  Plantain Flour    –         –         –         –         –         –         11-12

2.5     Nutritional Value of Semovita   –         –         –         –         –         13-16

2.5.1  Fungi Associated with Spoilage of Cereal

and Cereal Products         –         –         –         –         –         –         16-18

2.5.2  Dried Cereal Product       –         –         –         –         –         –         18-19

CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHOD

3.1     Materials      –         –         –         –         –         –         –         20

3.1.1  Reagents used        –         –         –         –         –         –         20

3.2     Method-       –         –         –         –         –         –         –         20

3.2.1  Sample Collection  –         –         –         –         –         –         20-21

3.2.2  Sterilization of glassware and media    –         –         –         21

3.3     Cultivation of Microorganisms  –         –         –         –         22

3.4     Fungal Analysis     –         –         –         –         –         –         23

3.4.1  Enumeration of fungal isolate    –         –         –         –         23

3.4.2  Macroscopic examination of fungal isolate    –         –         23

3.4.3  Purification of fungal isolate      –         –         –         –         23

3.4.4  Microscopic examination of fungal isolate     –         –         24

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1     Result –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         25

4.1.1  Total fungal count of cereals flour samples    –         –         25

4.1.2  Cultural and morphological characteristics

of fungal isolate     –         –         –         –         –         –         26

4.1.3  Frequency of occurrence of fungal isolate

in cereal flour samples     –         –         –         –         –         26-31

4.2     Discussion   –         –         –         –         –         –         –         32-35

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1     Conclusion  –         –         –         –         –         –         –         36

5.2     Recommendation   –         –         –         –         –         –         36-37

References

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Of The Study

High production of crops requires using high quality of seed. However, spore-forming fungi play an important role in deterioration of seed quality,  which leads to high economic losses in crop yield (Youssef et al., 2008). Moreover, contamination of agricultural products are the main sources of diseases in the human and animal food chains which provide income of important nutritional substance for human health (Soliman, 2003). The quality and safety of agricultural products are of major concern due to increasing occurrence of chronic diseases associated with consumption of contaminated products (Al-Defiery and Merjan, 2015).

Therefore, one of the best methods to determine the natural and extent of the fungal colonization is the direct plating technique. This method is very useful for the quality evaluation of bulk grain. The genera of fungi of greatest importance in causing poisoning in humans and domestic animal are Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium (Soliman, 2003).

The fungi including Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium genera are responsible for majority of agricultural mycoflora contamination. These fungi are common components of the microbial flora associated with many agronomic crops, including corn and sorghum (Palumbo et al., 2008).

Microorganisms gets on grain in different ways, most often with dust from soil, surface of plant remnants during harvesting, transportation, storage and processing (Klich, 2001).

However, numerous investigations have been carried out on cereals grains contamination all over the world (Almeida et al., 2000; Marei et al., 2016).

The grains fungal contamination have been carefully studied in several areas, and several grain types (Montes et al., 2009; Marei et al., 2016).

Most fungi are inconspicuous because of the small size of their structures , and their cryptic lifestyles in soil or on dead matter. Fungi include symbionts of plants, animals or other fungi and also parasites. They may become noticeable when fruiting, either as mushrooms or as molds.

Fungi perform an essential role in the decomposition of organic matter and have fundamental roles in nutrient cycling and exchange in the environment. They have long been used as a direct source of human food, in the forms of mushrooms and truffles, as a leavening agent for bread and in the fermentation of various food products such as wine, beer, and soy sauce. Fungi have been used for the production of antibiotics, and or more recently, various enzymes produced by fungi are used industrially and in detergents. Fungi are used as biological pesticides to control weeds, plant diseases and insect pests. Many species produce bioactive compounds called mycotoxins, such as alkaloids and polyketides, that are toxic to animals including humans.

The fruiting structures of a few species contain psychotropic compounds and are consumed recreationally or in traditional spiritual ceremonies.

Fungi can break down manufactured materials and buildings and become significant pathogens of humans and other animals. Losses of crops due to fungal disease, example rice, blast disease or food spoilage can have a large impact on human food supplies and local economies.

1.2 Aim And Objectives Of The Study

The aim of this research project is to isolate and identify the fungi that possibly cause contamination in some cereals marketed in Ikot Ekpene.

The objectives of this research is to;

• Isolate and identify fungi that is associated with contamination of cereal products.
• Determine the frequency/percentage occurrence of the isolated fungi
• To determine the fungal load of the isolates.

1.3 Scope And Limitation

This research project covers only the isolation and identification of fungi associated with cereal products due to time, lack of adequate facilities and financial constraint, the study was limited to Ikot Ekpene metropolis.