MICROBIOLOGICAL SAFETY AND SENSORY ATTRIBUTES OF GARI IN SELECTED PACKAGING MATERIALS

The effect of some selected plastic packaging materials on the microbial deterioration and sensory acceptability of packaged gari was investigated. Freshly prepared gari were packaged in polyester, polypropylene and hessian bags, with unpackaged samples in open container as a control. The gari samples were stored for six months at 16.0-34.5oC, 48.6-80.5% RH. The results showed that the total viable fungal count increased from about 1 to 56 x 104 cfug-1 , 49 x 104 , 95 x 104 cfug-1 and 220 x 104 cfug-1 while the total viable bacterial count also increased from about 1 to 10 x 104 , 15 x 104 , 30 x 104 cfug-1 and 50 x 104 cfug-1 in polyester, polypropylene, hessian bags and unpackaged samples respectively. The microbial loads at the end of storage periods were significantly different (p