Evaluation for microbial quality, physicochemical and sensory properties of locally produced fruit-ginger drinks in Umuahia

Abstract

Microbial quality and physicochemical properties of ginger fruit drinks were investigated. Total viable count,
staphylococcal count, fungal count, Salmonella count and total coliform were determined according to
standard microbiological methods. pH, titratable acidity, total solids, total soluble sugar, water content and
sensory evaluation were determined following standard procedures. The total viable count ranged from 1.0 ×
103
- 4.0 × 103
cfu/ml and fungal count ranged from 1.0 × 103
- 3.0 × 103
cfu/ml. Values obtained for the total
coliforms were from < 3 -14 MPN/100ml. The pH, titratable acidity, total solids, total soluble sugars and water
content ranged from, 2.7 - 4.7, 0.036 - 0.504 (g lactic/100g), 10.53 - 13.09%, 2.02 - 3.93g/100g and 86.91 -
89.47% respectively. General sensory acceptability assessment indicated that the pineapple-ginger and
pawpaw-ginger fruit drinks were highly acceptable while the orange-ginger was the least. Hygienic condition,
holding time during the preparation of fruits and ingredients are critical factors to the quality of fruit-ginger
drinks