Browsing by Author "Rwabunywenge, Stephen Paul"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Assessment of quality and safety of street vended sugar cane juice in Dar es salaam region, Tanzania
    (Sokoine Univesirty of Agriculture, 2018) Rwabunywenge, Stephen Paul
    Human infections and diseases outbreaks have been found in unpasteurized street vended juices. So, there is a need to analyse the quality and safety of street vended juices for human consumption. A study was conducted to assess the quality and safety of sugarcane juice vended along the streets and restaurants in all three districts of Dar es Salaam city, Tanzania. A total of 60 samples of sugarcane juice were collected and studied during the months of September, 2017 to August, 2018 and vendors were interviewed followed by physical-chemical and microbiological laboratory analysis. The results for unpasteurized sugarcane juices showed that the pH of the juices ranged between 3.6 to 5.9 while the acidity ranged from 0.083% to 0.084%. The total soluble solids (TSS) ranged between 2.4 to 22.1°Brix. Most of unpasteurized sugarcane juice had TSS levels below Codex recommended minimum values and 72.1% (n=60) were classified as weak and watery. On microbial analysis the total plate counts (TPC) of the juices ranged between 3.9 to 6.7 log (cfu/ml). About 90.1% (n=60) of sugarcane juice samples had TPC above Codex recommended maximum levels of 3.5-4 logcfu/ml. The results of E. coli ranged from 0.61-4.6 log cfu/ml were above recommended by Tanzania Standards (TZS 585:2003) Codex general standards). Prevalence of 96.6% of all the samples were contaminated with E. coli. The results of pasteurized sample showed significantly different (p<0.05) in TPC and E. coli levels as compared to unpasteurized sugarcane juice. Generally, 81.6% of vending premises were unhygienic and encouraged contamination of the sugarcane juice. It is concluded that, the overall handling practices of unpasteurized sugarcane vended in Dar es Salaam city was poor. Based on the results there is an immediate need of monitoring and educating vendors to improve sugarcane juice quality and safety.