Evaluation of the Microbiological, Sensory and Nutritional Quality of Chips Produced from Four Varieties of Potato (Solanum tuberosum) in Jos, Nigeria

Potato is prone to deterioration and eaten fresh in most developing countries, therefore the need to process into its less perishable form.This study was aimed at assessing the quality of chips produced from potato.Representative tubers picked from each cultivar were processed into crispy (test) and striped (control) chips.Serial dilution was done and 0.1 ml was inoculated on Nutrient agar MacConkey agar and Potato Dextrose agar, then incubated for 24 to 72 hours, biochemical tests and fungal atlas were used to identify microbes.Proximate composition was determined using Association of Official Analytical Chemist method.Sensory evaluation was determined by nine point (9) hedonic scale.The chips colour were all cream.There was significant difference in the total fungal, bacterial and coliform counts in the chips at 5% of level of probability.The microbes isolated with their respective frequencies of occurrence were Cladosporium cladosporioides (62.5%),Aspergillus niger (75%), Aspergillus ochraceus (50%), Penicillium roquoforti (50%), Fusarium solani (37%), Rhizopus microsporus (50%), Bacillus (62.5%),Citrobacter (37.5%),Proteus (25%), Staphylococcus (37.5%) and Serratia (62.5%).Proximate composition values were significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) with the following ranges for crispy and striped chips: Moisture (4.92 ± 0.03 to 2.45 ± 0.03%) (54.90 ± 0.07a to 53.72 ± 0.04), crude protein (8.28 ± 0.06 to 5.76 ± 0.03%) (2.40 ± 0.01 to 1.33 ± 0.01), crude fibre (11.75 ± 0.03 to 9.57 ± 0.02%) (1.56 ± 0.03 to 1.46 ± 0.03), lipid (26.51 ± 0.02 to 22.3 ± 0.20%) (20.79 ± 0.03 to 18.45 ± 0.03), ash (2.46 ± 0.06 to 1.55 ± 0.05%) (1.72 ± 0.02 to 1.59 ± 0.06) and carbohydrate (55.74 ± 0.02 to 48.28 ± 0.03%) (21.87 ± 0.01 to 19.71 ± 0.05) respectively.Sensory scores indicated Nicola variety being most accepted overall with a score of (8.55 ± 0.69), all the other sensory parameters of the chips fell between like moderately (7.0) and like very much (8.0).The study shows that chips from the commonly grown varieties in Jos are safe, nutritious and organoleptically acceptable.some researchers [3,4].Many agricultural raw materials such as tubers, roots, fruits, pulses, pseudo cereals, animal products, cereals, vegetables, oilseeds are been processed to add value and to mitigate wastage [5].In recent years snack consumption has formed a significant part of the nutritional requirements of many Nigerians which cuts across many strata in the society [6].Flour, chips, French fries, boiled, mashed, bread, cakes, pancakes, potato crisp, potato sticks from other starchy tubers such as sweet potato, taro and yam have been produced and has enhanced the food industry [7][8][9][10][11].Many developing countries are yet to have viable potato processing industries.Microbial contamination has been reported in wheat grains, wheat flour, powdered pap, bread, and chips made from potato and wheat [12][13][14][15].Sensory evaluation is a field, which integrates