Title : Physical, chemical and microbiological quality control of soft wheat circulating in Douala and Yaoundé (Cameroon)
Abstract:
Seventy percent estimated annual world production (600 million tons) of wheat is used for food production. Milling is very important in the processing of wheat and its transformation into flour, which is then processed into products such as bread, cakes, cereals, macaroni and noodles. African countries are the largest importers of wheat, with over 45 million tons in 2013. In Cameroon, there is a more or less organized wheat flour sector, and despite the development of the sector, quality management remains insufficient. The study Objective was to contribute in food safety. The Methodology used was a random-type analytical study from December 2020 to June 2021, in the cities of Yaoundé and Douala. Flours of soft wheat T45 to T65 locally grounded was include in the study. All the analysis (physicochemical and microbiological) took place in the National Drug Quality Control and Valuation (LANACOME). Data were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0, Excel 2013 and R software. Results: The study population collected was of 67% of samples from markets, 20% from supermarkets and 13% from millers. The wet level amongst the samples was between 11.2% and 12.9%. Regarding the pH measurements, all our samples have pH values between 5.8 and 6.2. Organoleptic characteristics were measured according to a scale from 1 to 10 ; then the score obtained was greater or equal to 8. We carried out counts of the different microbial colonies: 33.33% of samples from Douala were non-compliant, while Yaoundé one were 40% unsatisfactory. Conclusion: Physicochemical parameters, as the wet rate and the pH, had an influence on the microbial quality of samples in the study. Enumeration of various microorganisms was carried out according to Codex Alimentarius standardized methods and showed the presence of aerobic mesophilic germs, total coliforms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, yeasts and molds in quantities greater that standard. Despite the absence of dangerous germs such as salmonella and fecal coliforms, our results showed in fine, that several samples of flours analyzed had an unsatisfactory microbiological quality
