[01] Obi Clifford Nkemnaso, Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria. [02] Ekwezuom Chinaza Lois, Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.

Preservative effects of five food spices (ginger, garlic, alligator pepper, Negro pepper and Guinea pepper) on the microbiological and nutritional status of palm wine were assessed. Six bacteria namely Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Micrococcus spp, Lactobacillus spp, Bacillus spp and Streptococcus spp and two yeasts (Saccharomyces and Candida spp) were isolated from the palm wine. The palm wine was treated with ground spices and stored for 14 days during which the microbiological and sugar content of the palm wine were monitored. There was a decrease in the number of isolates with increase in storage time both for the spice-treated and the control samples. Only Bacillus spp, Lactobacillus spp and Saccharomyces cerevisiae survived in the palm wine after fourteen days of storage. After 14 day, the sugar content of the palm wine treated with ginger was 0.310 g/ml while that for the samples treated with other spices dropped to 0 g/ml. The initial microbial load of ginger-treated sample was 2.27 x 10⁶ cfu/ml, but the count progressively decreased to 2.0 x 104 cfu/ml on the 14th day. The result suggests that treating palm wine with ginger can extend the shelf-life and nutritional quality (sugar content) more than other spices used in the study.

Food Spices, Fresh Palmwine, Microbes, Microbiology, Nutritional Status

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