Microbial Quality Assessment of Khoa Sold in Parbhani City of Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Khoa is required many desserts. Contaminated khoa may possess health risk when consumed raw or partially processed. Microbial quality assessment of khoa is an important step. Present Study was Planned for microbial quality assessment of khoa sold in Parbhani city of Maharashtra of India. The microbial quality of khoa was evaluated by assessing Total Viable Count (TVC). A total of 100 khoa samples were collected and screened during study. Microbial quality was assessed by estimating TVC. The mean TVC of khoa samples recorded was 2.755+0.139 x 106 and the range of TVC was found to be 0.61 x 106 to 9.68 x 106. Sabaurdor\'s Dextrose Agar was utilized to isolate yeast and mould. It was found that khoa samples sold in Parbhani city have high microbial load. Fungal contamination was found in 32 samples in the form of yeast and Mould. High microbial load and fungal contaminants of khoa possess public health significance.

Introduction

The dairy product khoa is made by boiling milk until thicken and made solid mass. khoa is a perishable dairy product prepared by condensing milk and reducing the water content with continual heating. Indian sweets use khoa for making popular dessert such as gulabjamun, barfi, kalakand, kajukatli etc. The temperature of the milk is raised high enough during the manufacture of khoa leads to destruction of most of the bacteria's and vegetative cells. 

When the milk is exposed to open area, moulds will enter in milk, Worker handling and dirty processing utensils are the most likely sources of microbes in khoa. The aim of this study was to assess the microbial count and isolate yeast and mould in khoa which was sold in market of Parbhani city in Maharashtra. 

1. MATERIALS AND METHODS

1. Collection of Khoa Samples 

Khoa samples were collected from khoa market of Parbhani city by following standard method as per FSSAI (2010). A quantity of 50 gm of khoa sample was collected in sterile polyethylene sachet. These Khoa samples were brought to the laboratory on ice and processed immediately (1). 

1. Total Viable Count

For evaluating total viable count (TVC), Standard Pour Plate Technique was followed(2). Dilution of inoculums was standardized for further use. The quantity of inoculums from 10-3 and 10-4 dilutions used for pour plate technique was 0.1 ml to which molten plate count agar (Hi-media Laboratories, Mumbai) (45-50oC) was poured and mixed thoroughly by rotating plates. Incubation was done at 37oC for 24 hours. TVC was calculated by using standard formula as per method described by AOAC (1997). 

The Bacterial colonies were counted with the help of the bacteriological colony counter and CFU was calculated by using the following formula 

                                                              Σ C 

log10 CFU/gm = -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

                                              [n1 + (0.1 x n2)] x d 

Where, 

Σ C =Total number of colonies counted from all plates 

n1 = No. of plates of lower dilution 

n2 = No. of plates of lower dilution 

d      = Dilution factor 

1. Isolation of Yeast andMould

By using 0.1 ml. inoculums of 10-3 and 10-4 dilutions of sample on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) (Hi-media Laboratories, Mumbai) by spread plate method. Incubation was done at 37oC for 5 days. Colonies were analyzed for Yeast &Mouldsisolation. 

II. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

1. Microbial Quality of Khoa

Total Viable Count (TVC) reflects microbial quality of khoa. The TVC counts increases in storage of khoa at room temperature (3).  

Naidu and Rangnathan (1965) reported standard plate count of khoa sold in Karnal market in the range of 1.3 x 104 to 1.5 x 104. The earlier TVC of khoa samples in the range of 1.6 x 105 to 2.7 x 105CFU/gm was reported (5). The bacteriological quality of khoa samples sold in Nagpur city were found to be range of 4.88 x 105 to 1.2 x 107CFU/gm (6). 

In the present study all 100 khoa samples collected during the study period were subjected to TVC. The range of TVC was found to be 0.61 x 106 to 9.68 x 106 with a mean of 2.755 + 0.139 x 106. A total of 3 samples (K-52, K-95 and K-96) could not be screened due to heavy growth. The results are shown in Table 1. The results are on similar lines as reported earlier. 

High TVC counts observed during present study may be due to higher contamination during transportation, storage & handling of khoa at room temperature in the market [3,5,7,8] 

Table 1 : Result of Total Viable Count (TVC) of Khoa Samples. 

* The samples were not screened due to heavy growth. 

1. Isolation of Yeast and Moulds

All 100 khoa samples were subjected to screening for Yeast and Moulds on SDA agar. The results are given in Table 2. A total of 32 Yeast and Mould isolates were obtained. Heat processing of khoa eliminated microbial load. However, Yeast and moulds growth appear during storage (9).

Table 2.Showing positive 32 samples of Yeast and Moulds isolated on SDA agar from khoa sample. 

+ ve   Sample showing growth of Yeast and Moulds 

YM-yeast and Mould, K-Khoa sample 

Rajarajanet al. (2006) studied appearance of Yeast and Moulds at different production points i.e. vat section, packaging section and production section. Stored khoa samples had higher Yeast and Moulds counts while vat section had lower count (10). The presence of Yeast and Mouldsin about 32 khoa samples in present study (Table 2) may also be due to contamination of khoa during storage. 

Conclusion

The present study was planned with the objective of evaluating microbial quality of khoa sold in Parbhani city and to isolate Yeast and Moulds. A total of 100 khoa samples were collected and screened during study. Microbial quality was assessed by estimating TVC. The mean TVC of khoa samples recorded was 2.755+0.139 x 106. Following conclusions can be drawn from study, 1) Khoa samples sold in Parbhani city have high microbial load. 2) Yeast and Mouldsare common contaminants of khoa of public health significance. 3) Identification of CCP in khoa preparation and technological interventions are required for maintenance of quality of khoa in relation to public health.

References

[1] Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (Procedure for Transaction of Business of the Central Advisory Committee) Regulations, 2010 [2] AOAC (1997) Association of Official Analytical Chemists International Official Methods of Analysis. 16th Edition, AOAC, Arlington. [3] Bhat JV, Sethna K, Fernandes F (1948) Chemical and microbial studies on mawa. Indian J Dairy Sci 1:49-58 [4] Naidu, A. R., and B. Ranganathan. 1965. Studies on microbiological deterioration of khoa. Ind. J, Dairy Sci. 8:4-9. [5] Karthikeyen and Dhanalakshmi (2010) Hygienic Quality of Indian Sweet Milk Products from Different Sources. Bangladesh J Microbiol 27(2) [6] GodboleSuchitra, PranotiDabholkar and ShyamashriMallik (2013), Evaluation Of Bacteriological Quality Of Khoa Samples Sold In Nagpur City (Maharashtra)-A Case Study. Journal of Global Biosciences, Vol. 2(2), 2013, pp. 49-52. [7] Kumar A, Rajorhia GS, Srinivasan MR (1975) Effect of modern packaging materials on the keeping quality of khoa. J Food SciTechnol 12(4):172–177 [8] Karthikeyan, N. and Pandiyan, C. (2013). Microbial quality of khoa and khoa based milk sweets from different sources, International Food Res. J., 20(3), 1443-1447. [9] Sohal S, Greg B, Mike L(1993) survival and growth of selected microorganisms in khoa during preparation and storage. J Food Safety [10] Rajarajan, G., Kumar, C. N., & Elango, A. (2006). Effect of antifungal agents on keeping quality of khoa. Indian Journal of Dairy Science, 59, 7-9

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Harkal D. B., Waghmare R. N., Bhong C. D., Deshmukh V. V., Deshpande A. R., Markendeya N. M., Dr. Harkal D. B. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.