Blessing Ehijiame ALEGBE

Tomato is an economically important fruit in Nigeria. Tomato has a high amount of water which makes them more susceptible to spoilage by the action of various microorganisms. The aim of this study was to achieve the bacteriological quality of tomato fruit puree product preserved and treated with sodium metabisulphite under anaerobic condition. Tomato fruits were purchased at Okoko’s village farm, Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo state and blended into tomato puree. The tomato puree samples were treated with differing concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5g/l) of sodium metabisulphite pasteurized at 65 0C for 15 minutes and then stored for 21 days under anaerobic conditions and analysed at every 7 days interval. The analysis carried out were Total Heterotrophic bacteria, Coliform and Salmonella Shigella count, as well as lycopene content, ascorbic content and changes in pH. From the result, the highest heterotrophic bacteria count was 23±2.8310 4cfu/ml, while the lowest was 1±1.41x10 4cfu/ml from puree sample treated with 0 and 0.5g/l of metabisulphite respectively. The highest lycopene content was 22.01±0.1510 4cfu/ml while the lowest was 7.71±0.15x10 4cfu/ml from puree sample treated with 0 and 0.2g/l of metabisulphite respectively. The identified isolates were: Klebisella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus mirabilis and Citrobacter sp. From this study, both pasteurization and preservation by sodium metabisulphite has shown potential as effective ways of prevention against spoilage in tomatoes.