Microbiological Quality of Freshly Prepared, Packaged Fruit and Milk Juices Sold in Cafés, Shops, and Supermarkets in Hargeisa, Somaliland

Background: Due to their delicious taste, high nutritional content, and health benefits, fruit juices are well-known drinks in many countries and are now an essential component of the modern diet. Objective: Determining the microbiological quality of both packaged and freshly made fruit and milk juices. Method: The spread-plate approach was employed to isolate and count the bacteria. 90 ml of sterile peptone water were blended with 10 ml of well-mixed, packed, and freshly made fruit juices. The samples were sequentially diluted (101 - 105) in accordance with the Indian Manual of Food Microbiological Testing Methods. Results: From eight samples of imported packaged fruit and milk juice, the average of total coliform, staphylococci, and viable bacterial counts were zero, 1.39 × 102, and 2 × 102 CFU/ml, respectively. In contrast, from three samples of locally produced fruit and milk juice, the average of total coliform, staphylococci, and viable bacterial counts were zero, 5.83 × 102, and 2.73 × 103 CFU/ml, respectively. Four samples of handmade prepared fruit and milk juices had a mean of total coliform, staphylococci, and viable bacterial count of 1.441 × 104, 4.1 × 103, and 2.35 × 105 CFU/ml, respectively. Conclusion: 33.3% of the results from microbiological analysis of freshly made fruit and milk juices met the permissible range of the Revised Microbiological Standards for Fruit and Vegetables and Their Products, which were published in 2018 and as well as the Hong Kong Center for Food Safety, whereas 66.7% of the microbiological analyses of freshly prepared fruit and milk juices were above the permissible reference range of GSO standard 2000. 12.5% of the investigated imported and packed fruits and milk juices had one failed test (TSC), which was above the acceptable limit, 87.5% of the tested samples of fruit and milk juices fulfilled the necessary standards of TCC, TVBC, and TSC. 100% of the tested locally manufactured fruit and milk juices complied with TSC, TCC, and TVBC requirements. All investigations showed that freshly made fruit and milk juices were heavily contaminated (Total viable bacterial count, total coliform count, and total staphylococcus count). .

The factors of biological indicator resistance

Biological indicator(BI)is the gold standard in verifying the effectiveness of the sterilization processes.The resistance of biological indicators generally means the population of viable organism and D value.The population and the D value are all not intrinsic,which will vary according to the lot,the manufacturer.Spores,carrier,recovery medium and the packaging compose the self-contained biological indicators.And all of the component will affect BI resistance.Different kinds of carrier spore inoculated on exhibit different manners to attach different D-values.Another factor that affects the resistance of BI is spore production methods.The sporulation conditions including temperature,p H,humidity,nutrient and ions content,largely influence the spore resistance to heat.Furthermore,resistometer performance and the different test method are also the major source of the D value variation.All the factors affect the resistance of biological in an comprehensive manner,and when a resistance variation occur,all the factors above should be taken into consideration.

Feature extraction method of hyperspectral scattering images for prediction of total viable count in pork meat

This study aimed to investigate the capabilities of hyperspectral scattering imaging in tandem with Gaussian function,Exponential function and Lorentzian function for rapid and nondestructive determination of total viable count(TVC)in pork meat.Two batches of fresh pork meat was purchased from a local market and stored at 10°C for 1-9 d.Totally 60 samples were used,and several samples were taken out randomly for hyperspectral scattering imaging and conventional microbiological tests on each day of the experiments.The functions of Gaussian,Exponential and Lorentzian were employed to model the hyperspectral scattering profiles of pork meat,and good fitting results were obtained by all three functions between 455 nm and 1000 nm.The Lorentzian function performed best for fitting the hyperspectral scattering profiles of pork meat compared with other functions.Both principal component regression(PCR)and partial least squares regression(PLSR)methods were performed to establish the prediction models.Among all the developed models,the models developed using parameters CE(scattering width parameter of Exponential function)and CL(scattering width parameter of Lorentzian function)by PLSR method gave superior results for predicting pork meat TVC,with RV and RMSEV of 0.92,0.59 log CFU/g,and 0.91,0.61 log CFU/g,respectively.In addition,based on the improved hyperspectral scattering system,parameter c which represented the scattering widths in all three functions gave more accurate prediction results,regardless of the modeling methods(PCR or PLSR).The obtained results demonstrated that hyperspectral scattering imaging combined with the presented data analysis algorithm can be a powerful tool for evaluating the microbial safety of meat in the future.