ABSTRACT

Garri is commonly consumed cassava product in Nigeria. Poorly processed/stored garri could  pose serious health risk to consumer. This study revealed  the microbial  load from ready to eat garri sold within eatery and restaurant in Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic Campus. The total bacteria count isolated from the prepared (ready to eat) garri in the different restaurants showed that sample C had the highest bacteria count of (6.8×10⁴ cfu/g) while sample B had the least count of (3.3×10⁴ cfu/g). the bacterial isolates were Micrococcus sp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp., Lactobacillus sp., Enterobacter sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus sp., some of the isolated bacteria are of public health concerns and thus, there is need for garri processors/retailers to maintain stricter environmental and personal hygiene to reduce microbial contaminations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page    –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         i

Certification –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         ii

Dedication   –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         iii

Acknowledgement           –         –         –         –         –         –         –         iv

Abstract       –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         vi

Table of contents   –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         vii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study –         –         –         –         –         –         1

1.2     Aim and Objectives         –         –         –         –         –         –         2

1.3     Scope and Limitations      –         –         –         –         –         –         4

1.4     Significance of Study      –         –         –         –         –         –         4

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1     Garri  –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         5

2.2     Production of Garri          –         –         –         –         –         –         5

2.3     Types of Garri       –         –         –         –         –         –         –         7

2.3.1  Red Garri     –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         8

2.3.2  White Garri –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         8

2.3.3  Ijebu Garri   –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         8

2.4     Nutritional Benefits of Garri      –         –         –         –         –         9

2.5     Microbial Quantity of Garri       –         –         –         –         –         9

CHAPTER THREE: MATERIAL AND METHODS

3.1     Apparatus    –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         11

3.2     Sample Collection  –         –         –         –         –         –         –         11

3.2.1  Sterilization of Glassware and Media            –         –         –         11

3.2.2  Microbiological Analysis of Samples  –         –         –         –         12

3.2.3  Serial Dilution                 –         –         –         –         –         –         12

3.2.4  Cultivation of Microorganism    –         –         –         –         –         12

3.2.4.1         Enumeration of Bacterial Isolates        –         –         –         13

3.2.4.2         Purification of Bacterial Isolates          –         –         –         14

3.2.4.3         Characterization and Identification of Bacterial Isolates    – 14

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1     Result –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         15

4.2     Discussion   –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         19

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1     Conclusion  –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         23

5.2     Recommendation   –         –         –         –         –         –         –         24

References

Appendix

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study

Cassava roots contain a fibrous peel (10-15% of tuber weight) and a core, the main region of starch (IITA, 1990). Cassava can be consumed in various forms: boiled, baked or fried and it is processed before consumption in order to detoxify and preserve it (Obadina et al., 2009). The main cassava food products of considerable domestic importance in Nigeria are garri, lafun and fufu.

When cassava roots are processed into product such as garri and flour, the biochemical contents of such products are affected (Kemdirim et al., 1995).

Amongst the various fermented cassava products; Garri is the most commonly consumed in Nigeria and account of 70% of the entire cassava production in Nigeria.

Several millions of people in the African continent consume garri and it forms a significant part of the people’s diet especially in the West African sub region (Edem et al., 2001; Ogiehor and Ikenbory, 2007 and Kostinek et al., 2005).

Garri is a granulated and dehydrated cassava product. It is classified/group based on texture length of fermentation, region or place where it is produced and colour impart by the addition/non-addition of palm oil it has a high swelling capacity and can absorb up to four times its volume in water (Jekayinfa and Olajide, 2007).

Obtained in the market is the dry processed garri which can be consumed soaked in cold water.

Sugar can also be added to the soaked garri and it can be eaten with meat, roasted ground nuts, smoked fish, boiled beans, coconut, palm kernel, ground nut cake, kwuli kwuli, and fermented maize snacks kokoro. Beverages and milk may also be added as complements “Eba” is another food prepared from garri. The granules are added into hot water and stirred to form a stiff paste which can eaten with indigenous soups or stew (Asegbeloyin and Onyimonyi, 2007).

There are reports on the high load of microorganisms in garri sold in the market (Ogiehor and Ikenbory, 2007; Amadi and Adebola, 2008). The microorganisms reported for market sample include: Salmonella sp; Klebsiella sp; Fusarium sp; Aspergillus sp; Pseudomonas sp; Bacillus sp; Clostridium sp; Penicillium sp. There may be economic losses and borne illnesses as a result of contamination by these microorganisms.

1.2     Aim of Study

The project is aimed at microbiologically assessing of bacteria in prepared garri sold in different eateries in Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic and.

The Objectives are to

1. Microbiologically assess bacteria in prepared garri sold in different eateries.
2. To isolate and identify the different bacteria and fungi in ready to eat garri from different restaurant.
3. To compare the present result with the result of other scholars.
4. To make recommendation for further studies.

1.3    Scope and Limitations

The scope of this research project is centered on the microbial assessment of bacteria in prepared garri sold in different catteries in Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic.

The limitation to this project research was encounter via lack of resources, limited time and financial constraint.

1.4     Significance of the Study

Microbial contamination of food has been one of the major problem faced by both the developing and the developed countries.

Research as it that microbial contamination induce series of health problem in human. The present study investigate the bacterial assessment from prepared garri sold in different eatery. Garri has been widely consumed by people, and as such investigating the microbial load will serves as a research tool for further research and recommendation and suggestions for further studies will be made based on the results obtained from this analysis.