Enumeration of Thermoduric and Thermophilic Spores in Commercial Repacked Milk Powder

Abstract

The present study was carried out to enumerate the thermoduric and thermophilic spores in commercial repacked milk powder. A total of 30 dried milk powders, 10 each of Skim Milk Powder (SMP), Semi Skim Milk Powder (SSMP) and Full Cream Milk Powder (FCMP) purchased from market of Hyderabad, Sindh were evaluated for microbiological quality characteristics of Thermoduric Count (TDC) and Thermophilic Spore Count (TPSC). Thermoduric count, (5.15x10²±2.6x10¹cfu/g) was significantly (p<0.05) higher in FCMP compared to SMP 2.7x10²±4.7x10¹ and SSMP 1.6x10²±3.1x10¹. TPS count enumerated from FCMP (8.68x10²±4.1x10¹cfu/g) and SSMP (7.75x10²±1.74x10¹) were relatively similar (p<0.05), but significantly different (p<0.05) from SMP (4.06x10²±5.9x10¹cfu/g). The overall average count of TD, (3.17x10²±3.7x10¹cfu/g), TPS (6.83x10²±7.3x10¹), were detected higher (3.7 folds), (6.83 folds), (18.4 folds) compared to ISI standard respectively. Although, TPS indicates the unhygienic condition of dried milk powders with higher risk level for human health. While TD count appeared in higher concentration level may reveal significant influence on the quality of the final product.