Comparative Assessment of the Microbial and Nutritional Qualities of Wara (Cheese) Produced from Cow Milk and Soybean Milk
1Noah, Abimbola A. & 1Oduwobi, Oludayo O.
1Department of Food Technology, The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State
1Science Laboratory Technology, The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State
Email: adukechoix@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
An investigation was carried out to determine the microbial and nutritional analyses of ‘wara’ (cheese) from cow milk and soybean milk. The aim of this study was to compare the microbial quality and proximate composition of cow milk cheese with soy milk cheese. Microbial analyses of the two samples after production showed total bacteria count of 1.0×104cfu/g with no growth of Salmonella, Coliforms, Staphylococcus and fungi. After7days, the results shows that cheese from cow milk has the higher total bacteria count, Staphylococcus count and fungi count which are23.5×104cfu/g, 9.5×104cfu/g, 12.5×104cfu/g while cheese from soymilk had 18.5×104cfu/g, 5.5×104cfu/g, 2.5×104cfu/g and a high coliform count of 4×104cfu/g than cow milk cheese with 1.5×104cfu/g, there was no growth of Salmonella. The overall assessment shows that the total microbial count did not exceed the standard, hence; the cheese is good and safe for consumption. Proximate analysis shows that, fat content is lower and protein content is higher in soymilk cheese 6.01+0.04, 13.09+0.01than cow milk cheese with 6.13+0.03, 12.75+0.01. Moisture, ash, fat and total carbohydrate are significantly higher in cow milk cheese than soymilk cheese. Crude fiber was not found in both samples. This research work shows that the samples are good sources of valuable nutrients because of their nutritional qualities.
Keywords: Cheese, soybean milk, cow milk, microbial analysis
