Culture-Dependent Evaluation of Microbial and Proximate Composition of Ready-to-Eat (RTE) African Salad Sold at Nkpolu-Oroworukwo Ultra-Modern Market (Mile 3, Diobu), Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

This study attempts to evaluate culture-dependent microbial and proximate composition of African salad (Abacha) sold at Nkpolu Oroworukwo (mile 3) market, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Samples were bought from stationary vendors at market within the months of March, 2019 to March, 2021. Garnished African salad (GAS) and ungarnished African salad (UAS) samples were determined by standard microbiological techniques whereas proximate composition (PC) was analysed by the methods of Association of Official of Analytical Chemists (AOAC) Total aerobic plate counts (TAPCs), total coliform counts (TCCs) and fungal counts (FCs) of GAS were higher 4.5x104CFU/g, 5.3x104CFU/g and 1.1x104CFU/g respectively as against 3.4x104CFU/g, 3.8x104 CFU/g and 0.8x104CFU/g for UAG. Microfloral diversity were more in GAS with species such as Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella sp., Micrococcus sp.. Bacillus sp., Enterobacter sp., and Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., Rhizopus sp., Fusarium sp., Mucor sp., Saccharomyces and Candida species than in UAS. Nutrient composition, energy (116.00Kcal/100g) and pH (6.4) values were higher in GAS. In contrast, only the moisture (62.52±0.53%) and carbohydrate (23.21±0.21%) contents were slightly higher in UAS than those in GAS. The study revealed that African salad’ bioburden was slightly above the microbiological standard limits of International Commission on Microbiological Specification for Foods (ICMSF) and (Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) for RTE foods for mesophilic aerobic bacteria (MAB)/TAPC but exceeded that for total coliforms. However, the microbes detected are likely aetiologic agents of several food borne diseases (FBDs) in human and animal pathologies. Therefore, adequate surveillance, monitoring and compliance with hygienic practices and environmental sanitary measures during processing, fortification and distribution should be enforced by regulatory agencies and stakeholders for wholesome and palatable RTE foods.