ABSTRACT
Instant noodles have been part of the
cooking culture of the Chinese for 4000
years, and have gained popularity among
college students in most country. This is
probably because of its convenience and
affordability. In this study, bacteria that are
present during spoilage of ready-to-eat
instant noodles were isolated and tentatively
identified with attempts to estimate spoilage
time. A total of thirty packets of instant
noodles, made up of three most popular
brands, were purchased and code labeled
CK, DT and TY to represent these brands.
They were boiled for 3-5 minutes and
packaged aseptically into semi-air tight
plastic bowl plates. Samples were taken at
the 12th, 24th and 36th hours post
preparation for bacteriological examination.
Sensory analysis was also done at different
times by 5 semi-trained panelists
considering odour, texture and colour. The
results indicated that total aerobic counts
ranged from 6.1-7.2 log cfug-1 at the 12th
hour and by the 36th hour, counts had
exceeded 8.0 log cfug-1. Gram positive
bacteria, mainly Bacillus and
Staphylococcus species, were found to
dominate all brands during spoilage and
persisted till the 36th hour when the samples
had been rejected from sensory point of
view. Escherichia coli was initially isolated
from samples CK and DT, but could not be
detected at the 36th hour which might
indicate its minor role in spoilage. Samples
from the TY brand had the least bacterial
counts and better sensory index even up till
>20 hours post preparation, and could be
said to have better shelf life. There seems to
be a consistent relationship between
bacterial counts and sensory evaluation