Microbiological and Physicochemical Evaluation of Pineapple Fruit and Its Juice for Compliance with Export Requirements

Fruit juices are unfermented but probably fermentable fruit extracts, stored fresh and consumed around the world due to their great nutritional importance. The objective of this study wasto determine the pesticide residues, the physicochemical and nutritional parameters of pineapple juice and pineapple derivatives in Benin. The samples were taken from pineapple juice producers and pineapple producers. These samples were subjected to microbiological and physicochemical analyzes in the laboratory. The results show that the average pH value of whole pineapple is 4.1228±0.0130. While and the average pH value of pineapple juice is 4.0762±0.0222. Whole pineapple samples had an average titratable acidity of 85.78±2.27. The pineapple juice samples had an average titratable acidity of 85.73±4.52. Imported whole pineapple samples were found to have the highest average concentration compared to pineapple juice (0.60±0.009 g/L). The average etephon concentration is higher in whole pineapple samples (0.76±0.05) than in pineapple juice samples (0.49±0.06). The average logarithmic contamination rate on whole pineapple samples is around 2.329 log10 CFU/g for FAMT, 0.18 log10 CFU/g for yeasts and molds and 0.014 log10 CFU/g for Staphylococcus aureus. Nevertheless, the average logarithmic contamination rate on whole pineapple samples is less than 10 log10 CFU/g respectively for Coliforms, Faecal Coliforms and E coli. The suspicion of salmonella was around 0% for whole pineapple samples. While the average logarithmic contamination rate on pineapple juice samples is around 0.71 log10 CFU/ml for FAMT. Nevertheless, the average logarithmic contamination rate on pineapple juice samples is less than 10 log10 CFU/ml respectively for Coliforms, Faecal Coliforms, E coli, yeasts and molds and Staphylococcus aureus. The suspicion of salmonella is around 0% for the pineapple juice samples. This study reveals that pineapple juice and pineapple derivatives contained various microflora, nutritional element and pesticide residues. It also notes that the microbiological and nutritional quality of pineapple juice and pineapple derivatives varies according to the producers and depends on the hygienic conditions of production.