Investigating the Occurrence of Fungi and Bacteria in Fruits Spoilage in Selected Markets in Bwari Area Council Abuja, Nigeria

Aim: This study evaluated the microorganisms that cause spoilage of four different fruits sold in selected markets in Bwari Area Council, Abuja.

Study Design: Factorial experimental design was employed for this study.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Microbiology, Veritas University Abuja between July to September, 2020.

Methodology: Twenty-four samples (6 samples each) of four different fruits were obtained from Zuma, Kubwa and Bwari market, in Bwari Area Council. Standard microbiological method was used for the isolation, enumeration and identification of the bacteria and fungi species. Percentages were used to determine the distribution of the isolates in the different locations. Data collected were also subjected to Chi square test at P=0.05 level of probability to check significance difference between the fruit’s location, abundance and occurrence of the isolates

Results: After microbiological analysis of the twenty-four samples, it was observed that the bacterial isolates include; Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp while the fungal spp were of the genus Aspergillus, Fusarium and Mucor. The bacterial count ranged from 1.2 x 106 to 6.1 x106 Cfu/ml and that of fungi ranged from 3.1 x106 to 5.4 x 106 Cfu/ml while the most occurring bacterial species was Staphylococcus aureus and Aspergillus spp occurred most for the fungi isolates. The Statistical analysis showed that there was no significance difference between the occurrence and abundance of fungi and location.

Conclusion: Bacteria and fungi are associated with the spoilage of the selected fruits in Bwari Area Council and contamination rates are relatively high. The most common fungi associated with pawpaw, mango, banana and watermelon spoilage were mainly Aspergillus flavus, Mucor species, Fusarium species and Aspergillus niger while bacteria associated with these fruits were Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella species, and Escherichia coli. However, the most abundant species of bacteria and fungi associated with spoilage of fruits in Bwari Area Council were Aspergillus species and Staphylococcus aureus respectively.