ASTRACT

 The microbiological quality of zobo drink preserved with scent leaves was evaluated. A total of five (5) apparently zobo drinks preserved with scent leaves were purchased from five different locations. They were evaluated using standard microbiological technique and the zobo drinks preserved with scent leaves sample were in three ratios (95% zobo: 5% scent leaves (ZSA), 90% zobo + 10% scent leaves (ZSB), 85% zobo + 15% scent leaves (ZSc) respectively. Twenty three (23) bacteria species and fourteen (14) fungi species were identified from zobo drink preserved with scent leaves samples. This reveals the major bacterial species to be Enterobacter spp, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus spp, and Micrococcus spp.. and fungi species to be Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus spp and Penicillium spp. The bacterial and fungal counts decreased as the days increased with day 1 having the highest bacterial and fungal counts at 1.41X103 (cfu/ml) and 3.1xl04 (cfu/ml) respectively. The control samples were generally higher than the counts recorded on the bacterial and fungal counts. Zobo + scent leaves (ZSc) recorded the highest bacterial count at 1.41x10'^ (cfu/ml), while the least was recorded for (ZSA) at 1.01 xlO6 (cfu/ml). Zobo + Scent (ZSc) recorded the highest fungal counts at 3.1xl04 (cfu/ml), while the least was recorded for ZSA at 1.2xl05 (cfu/ml). From this study, Bacillus spp and Staphylococcus aureus were the most frequently occurring isolates with a high percentage occurrence of 8(21.6%) and 6(16.2%), while Penicillium spp was the most frequently occurring isolate. Occurrences of these microorganisms are largely due to their presence in nature. Their association with foods such as the commercial zobo drinks may be as a result of poor hygiene or poor sanitary condition. The microbial counts showed that among the zobo drink preserved with scent leaves samples, zobo + scent leaves (ZSc) is the most predisposed product to microbial population due to the high microbial counts recorded.