Technical report on the comparison of the effect of two types of fufu processing methods on its microbial quality

Abstract

Traditionally, fufu preparation is time consuming and very labour intensive. Due to changing societal trends, urbanization and the need to make life easy and comfortable, the fufu milling machine was fabricated to enable fufu processors prepare fufu in shorter time frames and with reduced labour. Previous studies on the microbial quality of fufu have shown that the traditionally prepared fufu have high contamination levels with diverse organisms. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the microbial quality of traditionally processed fufu and mechanically processed fufu sold by 5 vendors in 4 markets (Kaneshie, Lapaz, Madina and Accra Central Markets) in the Greater Accra metropolis. Salmonella spp. were not detected in any of the samples. However, yeasts and moulds, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Faecal coliforms, Enterobacteriaceae and Coliforms were identified. Total viable counts ranged from 103 to 107 cfu/g for traditionally processed fufu. Generally, bacterial counts from the milled/extruded fufu were lower than those obtained by the traditional pounding method. The authors therefore recommend the use of the mechanical means of processing fufu which yields fufu that is not as contaminated as the traditional processed fufu, making it safer for human consumption with low levels of risk