MICROBIAL CONTENT OF ZOBO DRINK FROM FIVE DIFFERENT PRODUCERS WITHIN YENAGOA CITY BAYELSA STATE, Nigeria

Abstract

The Microbial content of the local beverage zobo prepared from five distinct sources in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, Nigeria was investigated in order to determine the quality of the consumed drink and its overall implication on human health. The drink samples from the five sources were labeled alphabetically from letters A to E.   A control sample drink was also prepared under hygienic condition. All zobo drink samples were prepared by processing the dried calyces of Roselle. All the samples and control were screened for aerobic bacterial and fungal count using standard techniques. The result from the study showed that all samples and control had total aerobic and bacterial count above the acceptable limit of <104 cfu/ml. The total bacterial count ranged from 4.1 X 10⁵ cfu/ml to 8.6 X 10⁵ cfu/ml in which the highest count was obtained from the D sample. The total fungal count ranged from 4.9 X 10⁵ cfu/ml to 6.1 X 10⁵ cfu/ml in which sample B had the highest. The control sample had the lowest bacteria and fungi count. A total of eight bacterial and six fungal isolates were identified. The isolated bacteria are Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Micrococcus luteus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter cloacae and proteus vulgaris. The isolated fungi were Aspergillis flavus, Mucor spp, Cladosporium spp, Penicillium spp, Candida spp and Rhizopus spp. Based on the findings of this work, it can be concluded that locally prepared zobo drink possess a serious risk to public health.