Abstract

Babajide, J. M.*, Atanda, O. O, Ibrahim, T. A., Majolagbe, H.O. and Akinbayode, S. A

The quantitative effect of ‘abafe’ ( Piliostigma thionnigii) and ‘agehu’ (Khaya ivorensis) leaves (fresh or dried; singly or combined) on the microbial load of dry- yam ‘gbodo’ was studied. The treated samples had lower microbial loads (>10 to 104 cfu/g) (total plate count, fungal count and staphylococcal count) compared to that of an untreated sample (106 cfu/g). Also, as the level of inclusion of leaves (especially fresh leaves) increased, the preservative effect of the leaves on dry-yam increased. Samples F -AB50-Y, F-AG40-Y and F-AG50-Y had the lowest staphylococcal count (>10 cfu/g) . Sample CF50-Y had the lowest total plate count (5.1 x 102 cfu/g), fungal count (0.9 x 102 cfu/g) and staphylococcal count (>10 cfu/g) when compared with all the other treated samples. The most prominent microorganisms isolated from each dry- yam sample were Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Aspergillus flavus. All the leave extracts suppressed growth of the isolated organisms. The combined form of the leave extracts (0.143 g/ml each) exhibited the strongest effect on the microorganisms.