Comparative Study on Five Sudanese Date (<i>Phoenix dactylifera</i>L.) Fruit Cultivars

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of mankind’s oldest cultivated plants. A date palm fruit is an important component of the diet in most of the hot arid and semi arid regions of the world. The present study aimed at investigating the physical and chemical properties as well as microbiological characteristics of five date palm cultivars cultivated in Sudan. The results showed that the physical characteristics like fruit weight, length, flesh thickness, seed weight differed significantly between the various cultivars. Although most of the cultivars had similar chemical components, there were some few differences. However, the microbiological analyses proved that no significant differences were found among the cultivars.

Microbial Safety of Dried Fish Meat (<i>Kejeik</i>) Produced in Sudan

The present study aimed to estimate the microbiological characteristics as well as the safety of traditionally fermented fish product, Kejeik. Kejeik samples were collected from Singah city (Blue Nile) and Kusti city (White Nile), Sudan. These samples were previously prepared from Ijl, Nawk and Garmut fish types. The microbiological analyses indicated that Kejeik products were devoid of any harmful bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7. The highest count of aerobic bacteria was found in Singa ijl Kejeik (SIK) which was 7.6 × 104 cfu/gm. The Enterbacteriaceae isolated from Kejeik samples were identified as Enterobacter cloacae, and their counts in Kejeik prepared from Ijil, Nawk and Garmut fish were 1.09 × 104, 0.93 × 105 and 3.5 × 104 cfu/gm, respectively. On the other hand, the counts of aerobic bacteria in Kejeik prepared from Ijl, Nawk and Garmut were 7.2 × 105, 4.1 × 105 and 3.4 × 105 cfu/gm, respectively. The higher aerobic bacterial load of the various Kejeik samples could be due to improper handling and sanitary condition during the preparation and their moisture contents. The Bacillus isolated from Kejeik samples were identified as Bacillus cereus, and the counts of it in Kejeik prepared from Ijl, Nawk and Garmut were 5 × 105, 2.3 × 104 and 1.0 × 104 cfu/gm, respectively. The fungi isolated from Kejeik samples were identified as Aspergillus niger, Alternaria, and Penicillium. However, fungi counts in Ijl Kejeik, Nawk Kejeik and Garmut Kejeik were 1.6 × 104, 1.6 × 104 and 1.2 × 104 cfu/gm, respectively. The yeast isolated was identified as Rhodotorula and Cryptococcus laureate, and their counts in Ijl Kejeik and Nawk Kejeik were 0.9 × 104 and 0.9 × 104 cfu/gm, respectively. The halophlic bacteria found in Kejeik samples could be identified as Kocuria rosea and Streptococcus dysgalactiae.

Effect of Diet Supplementation with Food Industry By-Products on Diabetic Rats

The present research work aimed to study the effects of 3 nutritional food industry by-products (orange peels, peanut skin peels and pomegranate peel) on regulating blood glucose level. 66 male adult Sprague-Dawely rats weighing 125 ± 5 g each were used. These rats were injected with alloxan for inducing diabetes. The negative control group consisted of rats fed on basal diet, while the positive control group consisted of (3 - 11) sub-groups fed on basal diet in addition to 5%, 7.5% and 10% of nutritional food industry by-products. After 4 weeks the effect of the different experimental diets on body weight gain, organs relative weight, blood glucose level, liver functions and kidney functions was recorded for the negative group and all the positive sub-groups. The results revealed that there was non-significant difference between all relative organ weights of liver, kidney and pancreas compared to control negative. Blood glucose level significantly decreased in all sub-groups compared to the control positive group.

Some Chemical and Microbiological Characteristics of <i>Agashi</i>Meat Product

This study aimed to determine the chemical characteristics and the microbiological quality of Agashi sliced meat product which is consumed largely as snack food in Sudan. The study addressed the contents of moisture (32.76% ± 0.30% to 72.37% ± 0.21%), ash (0.97% ± 0.4% to 8.55% ± 0.2%), proteins (10.5% ± 0.45% to 30.7% ± 0.5%), fibers (0.20% ± 0.3% to 0.81% ± 0.6%), fats (3.34% ± 0.32% to 11.9% ± 0.1%) carbohydrates (0.39% ± 0.83 to 45.93% ± 0.84%). The concentrations of macro minerals Fe, Na, K were higher in cooked Agashi compared to those of raw Agashi samples, these macro minerals contained a range of 21.5 - 95, 30.6 - 90 and 0.1 - 1.5 mg/100g, respectively. The microbiological analyses revealed presence of high levels of total viable count, coliforms, yeast and mould, Staphylococcus spp. E. coli (about 75% positive samples) in the product, moreover, salmonella was detected in most of the raw and cooked Agashi samples. This high contamination of Agashi with food spoilage organisms and pathogens decrease the quality and constitute a public health hazard.