EVALUATION OF MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION OF PACKAGED SPICES IN YAZD

Background and Aim: Plants or dried plants in powder form alone or mixed are used to taste foods as a spice. Spices are used in a small amount in a wide range of food and food products. Having the desired taste, specific color and aromas, as well as the presence of antimicrobial compounds which may affect the remnants of microorganisms has doubled their importance.The quality of the microbiology of spices depends to a large extent on the area of cultivation, spice processing and storage conditions the aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial contamination of packaged spices in YazdMethods:43 samples Such as Turmeric, pepper, Cinnamon, Spice for Shrimp, Fish were collected by experts from the Assistant Food Service in the second six months of the year 1396 and sent to the lab and then were assessed based on reference Iranian organizations (mainly ISIRI) for microbial contaminationResults:The results showed that the contamination level of spices to Escherichia coli and coliform were 23.25% (n= 3) and 55.81% (n= 11), respectively. About 25.58% (n= 8) of total samples were contaminated higher than standard level for molds.Conclusion:microbial contamination in spices samples were higher than the defined international standard averages for spices

Keywords:

Spices- microbial contamination