Assessment of heavy metals and microbial contamination of gari from Liberia
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Date
2017-08-22
Journal Title
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Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
Cassava is a staple mostly eaten in the form of gari, after rice in Liberia. The local
method of gari processing often leads to product contamination, thus, a study was
done to assess the heavy metals and microbial contamination of gari in eight counties
of the country. A total of sixty- one gari samples were collected and packaged in an
airtight polyethylene bag for analyses, using standard methods. Results depict that the
mean of the heavy metals in the gari samples is iron (Fe) 43.87 ppm, copper (Cu)
0.94 ppm, zinc (Zn) 5.49 ppm and aluminum (Al) 257.45 ppm. Yellow gari had the high
est Fe (64.90 ppm), Cu (1.25 ppm) and Zn (7.85 ppm) content, but with the least Al
content (87.15 ppm). The Fe content was lower in groundnut- fortified gari (42.93 ppm),
and the Cu (0.70 ppm) and Zn (3.50 ppm) content were lower in groundnut- moringa-
fortified gari. The samples and counties have no significant statistical effect (p > .05)
on the heavy metals composition of the products. No microbial growth was observed
in groundnut- fortified and groundnut- moringa- fortified gari but with coconut- fortified
gari having the highest total fungi count of 800 CFU/g. The major fungi identified in
the gari samples are Penicillium and Aspergillus spps., but with their counts within the
regulated level. Therefore, the gari consumed in Liberia are safe except for the high Fe
and Al content, which needs to be addressed with the use of unpainted stainless steel
materials as food contact surfaces.
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Citation
54. Wasiu Awoyale, Robert Asiedu, William K.C. Kawalawu, Busie Maziya-Dixon, Adebayo Abass, Michael Edet, and Medinat Oluwatoyin Adetunji (2018): Assessment of the heavy metals and microbial contamination of gari from Liberia. Food Science and Nutrition, 6(1):62– 66. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.527.