Effect of wrapping materials on mycoflora growth, proximate composition and shelf life of solid pap sold in lapai, Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

Effect of wrapping materials on mycoflora growth and proximate composition of pap, solid gel-like traditional fermented starchy food item produced from maize (Zea mays) was investigated. Proximate and microbial analysis of freshly prepared pap was done before storage for 10 days. The samples were wrapped in banana leaves (Musa paradiosica) and nylon. The proximate and microbial analyses were conducted during storage at day 3, 5 and 10. The results showed that fresh pap have percentage moisture (4.03±0.04), ash (4.08±0.01), crude fibre (3.04±0.01), crude fat (0.90±0.05), protein (1.99±0.01) and carbohydrate (85.96±0.01). The proximate compositions of pap wrapped with nylon were significantly (p<0.05) higher than pap wrapped with leaf except for carbohydrate content which was significantly (p<0.05) higher in pap wrapped with leaf than nylon at day 3, 5 and 10 of storage. The isolated fungi in pap included Mucor species, Aspergillusniger, A. Flavus and Penicillium notatum. On day 1 Penicillium notatum and Mucor species were not isolated from pap wrapped with nylon and plastic containers. The pap wrapped with nylon has the highest percentage occurrence of Aspergillus flavus and Mucor species on day 1, 3 and 5 (50.00, 25.00, 31.80, 45.45 and 50.00%) while pap wrapped with leaf has highest occurrence of Aspergillus niger, Mucor species on day 1 and 10. It was revealed that storage of pap led to decrease in nutritional content and increase in microbial growth with increased storage time. However, this study revealed that the pap is less susceptible to microbial attack and nutrients are best retained when nylon are used to wrap the pap than leaf