Bed linen is clearly recognized as a potential reservoir for microorganisms and could be a vector of disease transmission. The present study was aimed at isolating and characterizing bacteria and fungi from different kinds of bed linen of student in Ekiti State University hostels. Pour plate method was used for the enumeration of total bacteria count from the posterior and anterior end of the bed linen. The average bacteria count for the anterior and posterior end was 7.46 and 7.16 Log10 CFU/ml respectively. The most dominant microbial species were bacteria and these were mostly found in the environment and on human skin. The bacteria isolated were Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter aerogenes, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella aerogenes. Bacillus cereus had the highest frequency of occurrence (25%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (15%), Escherichia coli (15%), Klebsiella aerogenes (15%), Staphylococcus epidermis (15%), Enterobacter aerogenes (10%) and Proteus mirabilis (5%). The fungi isolates were Aspergillus sulphureus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium spp. Antibiotics susceptibility test was carried out on the bacteria isolates with gram negative bacteria showing resistance to Cotrimoxazole and gram positive bacteria showing resistance to Amplicillin. Most of the bacteria isolates have multiple antibiotics resistance. The bacterial isolates were susceptible to Ciprofloxacin. Plasmid profiling was also done with Escherichia coli having three high molecular weight plasmids, Bacillus cereus and Enterobacter aerogenes do not possess plasmid. The identified species are suspected to be opportunistic pathogens for human, representing a risk for people with weakened immune system, especially in cases of super-infection.

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The nutritional importance and easy accessibility of soft cheese has made it indispensable. This study assessed the phytochemical constituents and the effects of antioxidant of biocoagulants used in soft cheese produced from goat milk. Different biocoagulants such as Calotropis procera, Carica papaya, lemon juice and steep water from cereals (maize, millet, and sorghum) were used. The results of the antioxidant properties revealed that Carica papaya had the highest ferric reducing property and displayed better DPPH scavenging activity of 14.94 mg AAE/g and 10.82%, respectively, when compared with other biocoagulants. Also, the results of phytochemical screening revealed that cheese coagulated with Carica papaya displayed the highest DPPH scavenging activity (1.93%) compared with other cheese samples. Cheese coagulated with lemon juice had the highest phenol content (19.88 mgGAE/100g) and also displayed the highest ferric Original Research Article

This study assesses the effect of different packaging materials on the microbial quality of Africa Locust beans during storage. Locust beans (Dawadawa) also known as iru, among the Yorubas in South-west Nigeria, is a popular condiment used as a taste and flavour enhancer in soup and dishes in Africa. Locust bean is traditionally produced from locust beans seed (Parkia biglobosa) and preserved using different packaging materials before use in order to prolong its shelf life. The Microbiological examination of the produced locust beans was carried out on samples wrapped with different packaging materials such as plastic containers, nylon, and dry banana leaves. The suspected organisms isolated include Salmonella spp, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus lactis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Lactobacillus plantarium, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Leuconostoc sp, Escherichia coli and Micrococcus sp. It was observed from this study that locust beans packaged with banana leaves had the highest microbial load, few of which are of public health concern while plastic containers had the least microbial load. It is therefore recommended that locust beans should be produced and packaged with sealed plastic containers to avoid contamination by pathogenic organisms.

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