Assessment of Fungi Associated with Bakery Products in Port Harcourt Metropolis

Bakery products such as bread, cakes, etc are staple foods consumed by both the poor and rich. Bread and other bakery products are subject to fungal contamination. This study is aimed at identifying the different fungi associated with bakery products in Port Harcourt metropolis, Nigeria. Sampling was done once monthly for three months, January to March for twenty-three (23) bakery products. Various bakery products were collected from different locations (Abacha Road, Ikwerre Road and Mile 3) in Port Harcourt Metropolis for enumeration, isolation and identification of different fungi that cause spoilage of the bakery products. In the month of January, bread samples had the following fungal counts: 2.0x106sfu/g, 1.0 x106sfu/g, 2.0x106sfu/g, 1.0x106sfu/g, 1.0x106sfu/g and 3.0x106sfu/g. The lowest count was 1.0 x106sfu/g and the highest count was 3.0 x106sfu/g with mean values of 1.07±1.00a and 2.5±0.55a, respectively. During the study, ten (10) different species of fungi were identified. The species are in eight (8) genera, Aspergillus (39.2%),  Fusarium(10.5%), Penicillum(5.7%), Mucor(13.4%), Eurotium (8.1%), Cladosporium (8.1%), Alternaria (3.3%), and Rhizopus (11.5%) species. Statistically, there was a significant difference comparing the growth of the organisms in Abacha Road (2.00±0.89a), Ikwerre Road (5.80±83b) and Mile 3 (4.03±1.23a). It was observed that Abacha Road had the lowest counts of the fungi. There was an increased count in Ikwerre Road as well as Mile 3 compared to Abacha Road. Therefore, Abacha Road < Ikwerre Road ≥ Mile 3 based on the analysis of variance.