Quality Assurance of Stored Pepper (Piper guineense) Using Controlled Processing Methods

Abstract

The microflora of black and white pepper (P. guineense) during processing and storage were enumerated, isolated and identified. The fresh untreated pepper samples gave appreciable total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (TAMB) counts of 6.65 log₁₀ cfu/g in the white pepper and 7.04 log₁₀ cfu/g in the black pepper. Coliform counts ranged in number from 6.23 to 6.80 log₁₀ cfu/g while yeast and mould counts ranged from 2.00 to 3.74 log₁₀ cfu/g sample. The microflora associated with the untreated fresh pepper samples included species of Staphylococcus, Micrococcus, Bacillus, Serratia, E. coli, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Itersonilia, Botrydiplodia, Penicillium, Mucor, Candida, and Brettanomyces. Pretreatments involving steeping in boiling water for up to 20mins, surface disinfection with 2% formaldehyde solution and washing reduced the microbial load of the pepper samples to zero or less than 1.0 log₁₀ cfu/g; this was accompanied by the disappearance of yeast, coliforms and certain other species of bacteria. The low numbers were maintained during the drying period, whether in the oven or in the sun and later also during storage of the dried pepper samples. Our findings suggest that even in the traditional setting, simply washing and steeping, followed by controlled sun drying, could drastically and effectively decrease the associated microbial populations on pepper samples. The pretreatments of pepper samples described in this study kept the microbial load within the ICMSF acceptable limits throughout the storage period. This processing method has therefore been shown to be capable of elongating the shelf-life of the product and thus ensure the maintenance of good quality during storage for at least three months.