ENUMERATION OF MICROORGANISMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF BREAD PRODUCTION IN FUTMIN BAKERY, NIGERIA

Abstract

Microbiological analysis of different stages of bread which includes dry mixture, non-dry mixture, mixture of ingredient with flour, dough formation, milling, cutting, proofing, baking and cooling stage were obtained from FUTMIN bakery and analyzed using standard microbiological and biochemical methods. Various microbial species identified at different stages of bread production include bacterial species such as Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Streptococcus, Escherichia coli. Fungal species include Aspergillus, Mucor, Cephalosporium, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Torulopsis glabrata were among the yeast isolates. The total aerobic Bacteria count ranged from 2.85 x 10⁴ cfu/g to 6.21 x 10⁶ cfu/g, Coliform count ranged from 1.19 x 10⁴ cfu/g to 2.05 x 10⁶ cfu/g, species of Staphylococcus count ranged from 2.00 x 10⁴ cfu/g to 5.52 x 10⁵ cfu/g, while Fungi count ranged from 4.00 x 10³ to 1.40 x 10⁶ cfu/g. The bacterial with the highest frequency of occurrence were Staphylococcus and Escherichia coli (24.24%), followed by Bacillus sp (21.21%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (12.12%), Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus sp had the least frequency of occurrence (6.06%). Fungal isolates with the highest frequency of occurrence was Aspergillus sp (36.84%), followed by Cephalosporium sp (21.21%), and Aspergillus fumigatus (15.79%). Mucor sp and Saccharomyces cerevisiae had same frequency of occurrence (10.53%) while Torulopsis glabrata had the least frequency of occurrence (5.26%). Bacterial counts at stage one, two, and five of the production process which had to do with mixing and milling were high while the baking stage had a reduced microbial load. The results revealed that three stages (stage one, two and five) were the critical control points. It therefore means that application of adequate control measures to these points will greatly reduce microbial hazard of bread.