Abstract

This research was carried out for the isolation and identification of fungal spoilage organisms in fermented cow milk. Three samples were bought from Samaru market using sterile nylon bags for each samples and taken to the laboratory for analysis. One gram of each sample was put into nine (9) ml of sterile water. Five-fold dilution was carried out up to the fifth sterile test tube to reduce microbial load. Pourplate method was used by taking 0.1 ml from each dilution unto sterile prepared Solidified potato dextrose agar plates, the plates were incubated for 7 days for growth to occur. Representative growths from the plates were then sub cultured on agar plates to obtain pure cultures for identification. Slide culture technique was use for proper identification of the fungi and incubation was for 7 days. Lactophenol cotton blue was used to stain the fungi growth on the slide and the cover slip which was viewed under the light microscope. The fungi isolated were Aspergillus flavus (32.26%), Aspergillus fumigates (34.84%) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (32.90%). The most abundant fungal specie was Aspergillus fumigatus (34.84). These food products can be contaminated due to daily exposure to air as fungal spores are known to be present in a large number in the air making it easy for them to invade exposed foods.