ABSTRACT

 Two different pre-processed samples (Ground Tomatoes and Wet-Milled Beans) and one processed sample (Egusi Soup) were evaluated for extension of their shelf-life using different types of charcoal (Ordinary, Activated and Coconut shell charcoals) and different weights (Jg, Sg, and 7g), and at different time intervals. The samples were evaluated for physico-chemical properties, microbial loads and sensory attributes at different time intervals of O hour. rd hour and 6" hour. The sensory attributes of the soup was done at 12 hour, 15" hour and 18" hour. The results of this research work showed an obvious sigpificant differences (P<0.05) in the use of charcoal as a preservative agent in both pre-processed and processed food materials. The microbial loads for charcoal treated Egusi soup at 6 hour revealed that the control had 1.90 x 10° ± 0.075 and the samples treated with Activated charcoal and Coconut shell charcoal had l.33 x 10° ± 0.1 and 1.21 x 10 5 ± 0.1 respectively. The microbial loads for charcoal treated wet-milled beans showed that the control had 2.85 x 10 ± 0.35 while the sample treated with Activated charcoal had 1.41 x I Os ± 0.03. The microbial loads for charcoal treated ground tomatoes at the third hour showed that the sample treated with Activated charcoal had the least microbial load of 7.60 x 10 ± 0.07 whereas the control had the highest microbial load of 1.3 J x 105 ± 0.2'1. The results of all the analyses showed that though charcoal is a mundane material and messy in general, yet, it has excellent anti-bacterial and inhibitory functions against microbial spoilage and has deodouring capabilities - removing odours that have the tendency to linger.