ABSTRACT

This work investigated the production and quality evaluation of bio-margarine produced from palm, melon and coconut oils using L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus starter cultures. Six samples of uninoculated margarines samples (MAG 001-MAG 006) were prepared with the following blend ratios of 90:2:8,80:4:16,70:8:22,60:10:30 and 40:30:30 of coconut, melon and palm oils. And three samples (MAG 007-009) lactic acid bacteria starter culture inoculated margarines were prepared at the ratios of 60:10:30,50:20:30 and 40:30:40 of coconut, melon and palm oils. They were inoculated with L. acidophilus, S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus respectively. The total bacteria count, total coliform count and total fungi count of the starter culture inoculated margarine samples were determined for a period of 12 days using standard microbiological techniques. Vitamin, mineral, fatty acid profile, physicochemical properties and sensory evaluations were also determined. At day 1 storage, there were no significant growth in all the samples except in samples MAG 007-MAG 009 which ranged from 2.0 x 10⁵ – 5.4 x 10⁶. No significant growth was shown at day three (3) of storage in all the samples except in samples MAG 007- MAG 009 ranged from 6.0 x 10⁵ – 7.0 x 10⁶cfu/g. At the 6,10 and 12 days duration of storage showed no significant growth in all the bio-margarine samples except in samples MAG 007 to MAG 009 which ranged from 7.4 x 10⁶cfu/g. Vitamin A content ranged from 96.37ug to 103.48ug.Vitamin B₁ ranged from 0.0435mg/100g 0.055mg/100g, vitamin B₂ ranged  from 0.020mg/100g to 0.0335mg/100g.Vitamin B₃ ranged from 0.16mg/100g to 0.27mg/100g, B₉ ranged from 27.75mg/100g to 32.17mg/100g ,B₁₂ ranged from 0.11mg/100g to 0.18 mg/100g.The mineral composition of the bio-margarine samples ranged as follows; iron(0.079– 0.125mg/kg), manganese (0.008-0.044 mg/kg), potassium (4.84–7.41 mg/100g), magnesium ( 0.89 -0.044 mg/kg), and  soduim (0.69 – 1.03mg/100g) .The fatty acid profiles of the bio-margarine samples ranged as follows; cupric acid (0.0124-0.0144%), capric acid (0.0039-0.0065%), lauric acid (0.1585-0.2655%), myristic acid (0.0865-0.1355%), palmitic acid (5.58-8.44%), palmitoic acid (0.045-0.088%), stearic acid (1.48-2.36%), oleic acid (42.29-56.36%), linoleic acid (15.59-21.15%), linolenic acid(0.149-0.236%), aroteic acid (1.285-1.625%) and behenic acid (1.175-3.355%).The physicochemical properties of the bio-margarine samples ranged as follows; density (0.918 – 0.966g/cm³), specific gravity (0.9065 – 0.9095), Peroxide value (9.18 -9.88mEq/kg), Iodine value (98.86 – 105.23), Refractive index (1.388-1.496) and free fatty acid (2.48-3.86) mgKOH/g. Sensory scores  of the bio-margarine samples ranged from 5.00 to 7.50, 5.15 to 7.00, 3.65 to 6.55, 5.15 to 7.05, 5.15 to 7.25 and 5.40 to 7.05 for appearance, taste, consistency, flavor, mouth-feel and general acceptability respectively. There were no significant differences (p < 0.05) in the mean sensory scores between the margarine inoculated with LAB isolates and the control.