| Abstrakt: |
Background: Suusa is a spontaneously fermented milk product from raw camel milk used by the pastoral communities of Northern and Eastern Kenya. The product can be as a result of intentional fermentation at ambient temperature for 3 days where it is prepared by women specifically for home consumption. The product can also result from unintentional fermentation where raw camel milk intended for sale, undergoes coagulation at any node of the informal value chain. Since no heat treatment is involved in preparation, microbial safety and quality of suusa is completely dependent on the raw milk inherent flora and handling practices. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the microbiological quality and safety of suusa along the informal value chain in relation to the raw camel milk handling practices. The study was carried out in Isiolo County where production, bulking and cooling of raw camel milk is done and in Nairobi County where there is biggest market for that milk. A total of 59 milk samples were obtained from the production, bulking, cooling and marketing nodes and analysed for, Titratable Acidity (TA), Total Viable Count (TVC), Coliform Count (CC), Spore Count (SC) and Yeast and Moulds Count (YM). The microbial load of TVC, CC and YM, increased significantly ( P < 0.05) by 1 log increase, while SC increased by 3 log increase from production to market. The lactic acid increased from 0.07 % to 0.23 % for the unintended suusa.The microbial load comprised of 67 % Gram Negative Rods (GNR), 62 % Gram Positive Cocci (GPC) and 28 % YM from production, processing and marketing. Hygienic practices in raw camel milk and suusa production potentially expose the product to microbial contamination associated with reduced shelf life and public health concern. Results: A total of 59 milk samples were obtained from the production, bulking, cooling and marketing nodes and analysed for, Titratable Acidity (TA), Total Viable Count (TVC), Coliform Count (CC), Spore Count (SC) and Yeast and Moulds Count (YM). The microbial load of TVC, CC and YM, increased significantly (P < 0.05) by 1 log increase, while SC increased by 3 log increase from production to market. The lactic acid increased from 0.07 % to 0.23 % for the unintended suusa.The microbial load comprised of 67 % Gram Negative Rods (GNR), 62 % Gram Positive Cocci (GPC) and 28 % YM from production, processing and marketing. Conclusion: Hygienic practices in raw camel milk and suusa production potentially expose the product tomicrobial contamination associated with reduced shelf life and public health concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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