A Study of Bacteriological Quality of Street-Hawked Milk in Ilesha Metroplolis, Osun State, Nigeria
African Journal of Health Sciences; 34 (4), 2021
Publication year: 2021
Milk, a nutrient-rich liquid food produced in the mammary glands of
mammals, contains low bacterial counts when it leaves the udder, but it may get
contaminated from the environment, exterior of udder, water, soil, milkers’ hands
and utensils. Contamination can serve as a source of spread of certain harmful
human bacterial diseases like tuberculosis, diphtheria, salmonellosis and food
poisoning if consumed in raw form. This study, therefore, was designed to evaluate
bacteriological quality of milk samples collected from various localities within Ilesha
metropolis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty (20) samples of fresh raw milk were collected in sterilized bottles
from various nomadic milk hawkers in Ilesha. Methylene blue reductase test,
standard plate count on standard plate count agar and isolation of possible
pathogens using selective culture media was carried out on the samples.
RESULTS
Of the 20 samples of raw milk collected for bacteriological analysis, 3
samples were found to be of excellent quality, 5 were very good, 4 were good, 5 were
fair and 3 were of poor quality. The actual standard plate count for excellent and
very good quality ranged between 33-54 and 62 - 80 colony forming units (cfu). The
organisms isolated and biochemically characterized from the raw milk samples were
found contaminated with Escherichia coli (4 strains), Staphylococcus aureus (8
strains), Streptococcus pyogenes (5 strains), Streptococcus agalactiae (3 strains) and
Enterobacter aerogenes (5 strains).
African Journal of Health Sciences Volume 34, Issue No.4, July- August 2021 476
CONCLUSION
The results obtained from this study showed that the milk sold in raw form
could be hazardous to human health if sold without adopting hygienic measures