Onwurah Christian Obiekwe
Department of Food Technology
Federal Polytechnic Oko
Anambra State, Nigeria.
Email: christainobiekwe2007@yahoo.com
Four locally prepared soymilk drinks sold in Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State were subjected to microbiological analysis to ascertain their hygienic standard of production. Each of the locally produced soymilk drinks was purchased in some strategic places in Federal Polytechnic Oko, including Back Gate, First Gate, Permanent Site and Inside School. Standard biological techniques were used in the enumeration of potential organisms in the samples. The result of the microbial analysis showed that activities of microorganisms were noticeable in the soymilk samples. The total viable count of the samples collected from inside school and perm site were 1.4 cfu/ml and 1.6 cfu/ml respectively. There was no growth in the samples collected from Back and First Gate. The total microbial count of all the samples ranged from 12.0cfu/ml in the samples collected from Back Gate and Inside School to 2.8 cfu/ml in the sample collected from Permanent Site. The soymilk drink had an unsatisfactory microbial quality as they contain Lactic acid bacteria (28.33%) E. coli (20.33%), S. aureus (18.33%), Bacillus spp. (16.66%) and Pseudomonas spp. (16.66%). The bacterial spectrum isolated from the locally prepared drinks is indicative of exogenous contamination which could cause food poisoning.
Keywords: Soymilk, E. coli, S. aureus, Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., lactic acid bacteria.