ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH STALED BREAD IN MADONNA UNIVERSITY ELELE CAMPUS FEMALE HOSTEL

Abstract

Bread is the most important staple food in the Western world and it is recognized as a perishable commodity, which is at its best when consumed 'fresh'. Unfortunately, bread remains 'fresh' for only a few hours after it leaves the oven. Isolation and characterization of fungi associated with staled bread in female hostels were investigated. The aim of this research is to examine the fungi associated with staled bread in Madonna University Elele campus female hostel. The bread sample used for this study was collected from the different female hostels at Madonna University, the glassware were sterilized properly in hot air oven at 160⁰c for two hours, other materials were sterilized by autoclaving at 121⁰C for 15minutes. The culture media used for this experiment is sabouraud Dextrose agar (SDA) which is known to support the growth of only fungal organisms. The organisms found to be associated with the spoilage of bread were strictly fungal organisms which include; Mucor spp. (30%), Rhizopus spp. (17%), Penicillium spp. (17%), Fusarium spp. (3%). However, the percentage distribution of fungal organisms isolated from staled bread in different female hostels of Madonna University Elele Campus showed that Omogo hostel had the highest percentage of 23% followed by Madonna hostel (21%), Barnabas hostel (17%), St. Anthony hostel (15%), MJS hostel (15%), Edeani hostel (8%). After analyzing the samples, Aspergillus spp was found to be the most occurring fungi in bread.

Keywords: isolation, characterization, fungi, staled bread