Evaluation of the Microbiological and Physico-Chemical Quality of Soybean Flour (Glycine max L. Merrill) as a Food Supplement for Infants Sold in Daloa

The objective of this study is to assess the presence of harmful microorganisms and to characterize some physicochemical parameters in the soya flour sold in Daloa. To carry out the work, sixty (60) samples of soybean flour were collected by purchase in PMI (20), supermarkets (20) and in certain markets (20) made up of grains that will be transformed into flour according to the defined conditions. by ourselves. His samples will be transferred to the microbiology laboratory for analysis. A count to assess the microbiological quality was carried out. The assay of some chemical parameters and the determination of some physical parameters were performed. The different pH values ​​obtained are all alkaline. Microbiological analysis revealed compliance of average microbial loads of fungi (yeasts and molds) below 103 CFU / g and aerobic mesophilic bacteria below 105 CFU / g. On the other hand, the average microbial loads of total coliforms do not comply with the defined microbiological criteria. Furthermore, with regard to the potentially pathogenic germs in Bacillus cereus occurrences, there is no conformity of the average loads of the three types of flour. The defined criterion being 10 CFU / g. As for E. coli and S. aureus, only F1 flour complies with microbiological criteria. There is a presence of Salmonella in 60% of the samples of the F1 flour. Good practices should be observed in the processing of grains into flour in order to avoid possible contamination of the flour.