Abstract

Aim/Background: This work investigated the production and microbiological evaluation of bio-margarine produced from palm, melon, and coconut oils using Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophilus starter cultures.
Materials and Methods: Six samples of non-inoculated margarines (MAG 001-MAG 006) were prepared with the following blend ratios of 90:2:8, 80:4:16, 70:8:22, 60:10:30, and 40:30:30 of coconut, melon, and palm oils. Three samples (MAG 007-009) of margarine inoculated with lactic acid bacteria starter cultures were prepared at the ratios of 60:10:30, 50:20:30, and 40:30:40 of coconut, melon, and palm oils. They were inoculated with L. acidophilus, S. thermophiles, and L. bulgaricus, respectively. The total bacteria count, total fungal count, total lacto-bacillus count, total staphylococcus count, and total coliform count of the starter culture inoculated margarine samples were determined for a period of 12 days using standard microbiological techniques.
Results: On day 1 of storage, there was no significant growth in any of the samples except in samples MAG 007-MAG 009 which ranged from 2.0 x 105 – 5.4 x 106. No significant growth was observed on day three (3) of storage in all the samples except in samples MAG 007-MAG 009 ranging from 6.0 x 105 – 7.0 x 106 CFU/g. During 6, 10, and 12 days of storage, no significant growth was observed in all the bio-margarine samples except in samples MAG 007 to MAG 009.
Conclusion: The rest from this study has shown that inoculation of lactic acid bacteria reduced total microbial counts when compared to the non-inoculated samples.

Key words: Melon seed, Probiotic cultures, Lactic acid bacteria, Microbiological evaluation