BUTTER PRESERVATIVE POTENTIALS OF SELECTED SPICES AND HERBS FROM OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, WEST ARSI ZONE, SHASHEMANIE WOREDA, ETHIOPIA

Abstract:

In Ethiopia, it has been reported that there are no official quality control standards and cooling and other preservative facilities for most dairy products. Under such circumstances, fresh raw butter which has pleasant taste and odor will lose its quality because of microbial contamination. Hence, this study was conducted with the objective of investigating the butter preservation potential of selected spices/herbs commonly used in traditionally processed butter around Shashemenie town. For the study, raw butter samples were collected from 10 local households of the study area. Butter analysis for microbial contamination was conducted using dilution method and 1 ml of 10-5 was inoculated into plate count agar (PCA) for enumeration of bacterial contaminants and into potato dextrose agar (PDA) for the enumeration of yeasts and moulds. Isolation and identification of bacteria were conducted using selective media, gram staining and a series of biochemical tests. The results of microbial counts showed that both bacterial and mould counts were significantly (P