Microbiological Quality of Cowpea Paste Used to Prepare Nigerian Akara

Cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata ) paste used to prepare akara was collected from three Nigerian marketplaces and analyzed to determine populations and predominant types of bacteria, yeasts, and molds. Total aerobic microbial populations were initially high (10 6 ‐10 8 /g) and increased after 12 hr incubation at 30–32°C to ca. 10 9 /g. Initial coliform populations were 10 2 ‐10 4 /g and decreased slightly between 6 hr and 12 hr; yeast/mold populations remained constant at 10 4 ‐10 5 /g. The average initial pH of 6.0 declined to 5.1 and 4.5 after 6 hr and 12 hr incubation, respectively. Predominant bacteria consisted of Enterobacter, Klebsiella , and Lactobacillus species; Candida species and Aspergillus mger were the predominant fungi isolated from the pastes.