Sources of Microbial Contamination during Sobolo Drink Production
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Date
FEBRUARY 2016
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Abstract
Beverages are liquid preparations specifically made for human consumption. Studies have shown that the consumption of beverages made from plants is increasing. Sobolo, one of these drinks which is also referred to as the Hibiscus tea, is prepared from the magenta leaves of Hibiscus sabdariffa. Nonetheless, regulatory institutions hardly check the quality of the drinks to ensure that it meets the Ghana Standards in terms of nutrition and microbial load and quality. Previous studies have focused on the microbial contamination of the hawked Sobolo drink. The study was therefore conducted to determine the microbial quality of the Sobolo drink and establish which stage(s) of the various unit operations involved in its preparation is/are prone to contamination. The snowball sampling method was employed in this study to locate the Sobolo producers. In all, twelve (12) producers were contacted for this survey. And fifty-two (52) samples were picked in triplicates across the different stages of the drink preparation processes: steeping stage, boiling stage, seizing and dilution stage and formulation stage. Overall, this study showed that the products that underwent the steeping stage was associated with a high mean microbial count (15cfu/100ml) as compared to those that did not undergo the steeping stage (9cfu/100ml) which was statistically significant (p-value = 0.021). Also, the study revealed that high microbial counts in raw water (18cfu/100ml) reduced significantly (p-value = 0.001) after boiling (6cfu/100ml), then increased slightly after sieving and dilution (7cfu/100ml), and also increased steeply after the final formulation stage (15cfu/100ml). This shows that the activities in the intermediate stages after boiling to the formulation stage increases the level of microbial contamination. It is therefore recommended that only boiled water is used to dilute the mixture if required.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Science, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Food Quality Management,