ABSTRACT

The aim of the study to was to assess the microbial deterioration of rubber latex gotten from rubber tree in Umuahia, Abia State. The microbial evaluation of these products exhibited high bacteria count ranging between 4.7 x 10⁴ to 8.2 x 10⁴ while total coliform plate count ranged from 4.6 x 10⁴ to 7.8x 10⁴ and total fungal plate count has 2.0 x 10⁴ 5.0 x 10⁴ from used rubber latex samples while the Unused rubber latex ranged from 3.6 x 10⁴ to 3.6 x 10⁴ while total coliform plate count ranged from 4.5 x 10⁴ to 9.9x 10⁴ and total fungal plate count has 3.4 x 10⁴ to 4.0 x 10⁴. The bacterial isolates from rubber latex sample identified by morphological characteristics. The table reveals the major bacterial isolates to belong to Bacillus specie, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus and Micrococcus sp respectively. Three (3) fungal isolates from rubber latex which were identified by their morphological characteristics. The table revealed the fungal isolates to belong to Aspergillus, Aspergillus flavus, and Rhodotorula sp. The percentage occurrence of bacterial isolates from different rubber latex Staphylococcus aureus (28%) was predominant among the samples used in this study followed by E. coli (20%), Micrococcus sp (20%), Bacillus sp (16%), Proteus (12%) while Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4%) was least predominant. The percentage occurrence of fungal isolates from different rubber latex. Aspergillus 46%, was predominant followed by Aspergillus flavus (30.8%) while Rhodotula sp (23%) was less predominant. Natural rubber latex serves as a nutritious medium for the growth and proliferation of rubber degrading microorganisms. This is as a result of the components found in natural rubber latex. Microorganisms specifically gain access to latex mostly as a result of poor technical skill by personnel during tapping and processing in the factory. Microbial degradation of natural rubber is mainly carried out by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi.