Dried snacks such as tomato chips, plantain chips, and puff-corn are popular ready-to-eat foods due to their convenience and long shelf-life. However, these products are susceptible to fungal and mould contamination, which can compromise quality and pose serious health risks due to mycotoxin production. Poor handling, packaging, and storage conditions often exacerbate this problem, leading to food spoilage and potential consumer health hazards. This study aimed to determine the occurrence of fungi and moulds in dried snacks and evaluate their implications for shelf-life stability and safety. A total of 15 samples each of tomato chips, plantain chips, and puff-corn were collected from markets in Port Harcourt. Standard microbiological techniques were used for fungal isolation and identification, while mycotoxin levels were analyzed using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and ELISA. Samples were stored under different conditions such as ambient temperature, refrigeration, and high humidity and packaged in polyethylene, aluminum foil, vacuum-sealed plastic, and paper bags. Results revealed the presence of Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Penicillium chrysogenum, Fusarium oxysporum, and Alternaria alternata, with the highest fungal loads observed in samples stored at ambient temperature and high humidity. Vacuum-sealed plastic under refrigeration provided the best preservation, maintaining zero fungal growth for 28 days. Mycotoxin analysis showed aflatoxins in tomato chips (12.5 µg/kg) and fumonisins and ochratoxin A in plantain chips (18.7 µg/kg and 3.2 µg/kg, respectively), exceeding WHO/FAO safety limits, while puff-corn remained within safe levels. It was concluded that storage conditions and packaging significantly influence snack shelf-life and safety. It is recommended that vacuum-sealed packaging and refrigerated storage be adopted to minimize fungal growth and mycotoxin contamination, ensuring consumer protection and extended product quality.
Anderson et al. (Thu,) studied this question.