1.0 Introduction
Orange juice is a popular beverage made from the fresh orange fruit, by addition of water to the concentrate, desiccation and subsequent reconstitution of dried juice (Jawaad 2007). The term “orange juice” is also used both colloquially and commercially. Orange juice is one of the commodities traded on the New York Board of Trade. Hoard (1996) states that Brazil is the largest producer of orange juice in the world followed by the USA. Orange juice is made by sequencing the fruit on a special instrument called “Juicer” or a “squeezer”. The juice is collected in a small tray underneath. This is mainly done in the home and in industries. It is done on much larger scale.
Orange juice is gotten from the species of orange especially the sweet orange (Citrus sinensis). It is the most commonly from tree fruit in the world. Orange is a hybrid of ancient cultivated origin, possibly between pomelo (citrus maxima) and mandarin (Citrus reticulate). Wilson (2008) states that statistical data revealed that in Nigerian, between 1971-1976, diagnosed cases of acute food poisoning were estimated to be over 12000 persons. He continues to explain that it is important to note that food poisoning bacteria do not usually alter the appearance, taste or smell of the orange juice, therefore it is impossible by visual inspection to detect whether or not the orange juice is dangerously contaminated which makes this very hazardous to health when consumed, therefore bacteriological examination is expedient.
Some of the micro organisms that can contaminate orange juice and cause poisoning are Salmonella typhi, Staphilocccus auveus,Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringerea, Vibrio cholerae, Bacillus cerus, Listeria, Monocytogenesand the host of others (Stanley 2007).
1.1 Statement of Problem
Low standard of hygiene and improper processing methods that is inadequate GMP (Good manufacturing process) result to the presence of bacteria in ready to drink processed orange juice which could cause poisoning and sometimes death. Therefore it is important that the bacteria associated with orange juice contamination be examined, detected and the possible sources of contamination determined.
1.2 Aims of the Study
- To isolate bacteria from orange juice from three commercial companies
- To identify the bacterial types
- To determine the bacterial load of each bacterial type.
- To determine the bacterial loads of the orange juice from three commercial companies sampled.
1.3 Limitation of the Study
This work is limited to only orange juice from three commercial companies. Also the microbial examination is limited to microscopy, viable plate count, endospore staining and grain staining due to financial constraint in purchasing other selective media that would have enhanced the smooth running of this work. Another limiting factor is the non availability of some equipment like electron microscope required for practical work.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The result of this project work would show if the bacterial loads of the three commercial companies producing orange juice were high or low. The results would equally show if the bacterial types were pathogenic. If the bacterial loads were high and pathogenic then hygienic practices were not observed and should be introduced. But if bacterial loads were low and bacterial types were not pathogenic, then hygienic practices were observed and should be encouraged.
…
