Impact of Moringa oleifera Seed extract (MSE) on bacterial load and sensory evaluation of raw milk

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the impact of Moringa oleifera seed extract (MSE) on bacterial load and sensory evaluation of raw milk. Moringa seed extract (MSE) was added to five treatment groups of 100ml each of raw milk at different levels; Control, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% which represented T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively. The treated milk samples were examined for microbial load at room temperature and analysis for the microbial load was carried out after 24, 48 and 72 hours. The samples were serially diluted and inoculated using the pour plate method. The result obtained indicated that inclusion of 40% MSE (T5) reduced average total coliform count significantly (P0.05). Nevertheless, the total Coliform counts and total viable bacterial counts were 5x103 and 1.5x103 respectively which was lower than that obtainable from the analyzed raw milk result which was 2.42x104 and 2.73x104. However, sensory evaluation result revealed that 10% Moringa inclusion level scored highest implying most preferred compared to 20%, 30% and 40% inclusion levels. The organisms isolated were clostridium, pseudomonas, E. coli, Serratia, Aeromonas, Shigella and Bacillus.