66 Microorganisms Associated with Pearl Millet Cultivars at Various Malting Stages M. H. Badau * Department of Food Science & Technology, University of Maiduguri, P. M. B. 1069, Maiduguri, Nigeria Microbiological analysis of samples taken at various stages of malting pearl millet cultivars was investigated. The results indicated that total bacterial count, mould count, staphylococcal count, coliform count and yeast count ranged from 4.08 to 5.28 log 10 CFU/g, 2.50 to 3.71, 1.78 to 4.20, 2.65 to 3.65, and 2.54 to 3.70, respectively. The predominant microorganism in unmalted grain was Bacillus subtilis, while green malt had Rhizopus arrhizus and Proteus vulgaris as the predominant microorganisms. Rhizopus arrhizus occurred at a higher frequency (75.0%) in dried and polished malts. Most of the microorganisms were widely distributed, particularly Torulopsis glabrata, Lactobacillus plantarum and Streptococcus lactis. The population of microorganisms isolated from malting stages was not high enough to produce effective dose. However, there is the need to adopt strict hygiene practices to prevent malt from being sources of contamination to malt based foods. Pearl millet is an important food for millions of people inhabiting the semi-arid tropics and is a major source of calories and vital component of food security in the semi- arid areas in the developing world (FAO and ICRISAT, 1996). The grain is processed in so many ways for preparation of various food products. Some of the products include cooked whole grain, thin and thick porridges, steam cooked grits (couscous, burabosko), kunun zaki, tuwo and fura(Nkama and Ikwelle, 1997; Jideani et al., 1999, 2001, 2002). Pearl millet can also be malted to produce alcoholic beverages and weaning food (Desikachar, 1980; Mosha and Svanberg, 1983; AHRTAG, 1990). There are a lot of investigations carried out on physicochemical and malting properties of pearl millet in recent times. The physicochemical and water absorption characteristics of pearl millet cultivars have been published by Badau et al. (2002, 2005a). Steep-out moisture, malting loss, diastatic power (Badau et al., 2006a), sugars (Badau et al., 2005b), amylase activity (Badau et al., 2006b), phytic acid content and hydrochloric extractability of minerals in pearl millet as affected by germination time and cultivar have also been published (Badau et al., 2005c). Information with regard to microbial load of weaning foods or other food products from malted cereals produced by traditional technologies (such as malting) are not very adequate in this region. The incidence of diarrheal disease is high in children during the weaning stage which could be due to microbial contamination of food and water (Mathar and Reddy, 1983). *Corresponding author, mailing address: Department of Food Science & Technology, University of Maiduguri, P. M. B. 1069, Maiduguri, Nigeria. Phone: 234-76-977382, Fax: 076-233-039. E- mail: mamudu_badau@yahoo.com Badau et al. (2006c) have documented the effect of addition of malt flour from pearl millet cultivars and sorghum on production, acceptability and microbial evaluation of weaning food formulations. However, information on the microorganisms associated with the various malting stages of these pearl millet cultivars is still inadequate in this area. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the microbial load, isolate and identify microorganisms at various malting stages of pearl millet cultivars. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three pearl millet cultivars; SOSAT C-88, ZANGO and EX-BORNO were obtained from Lake Chad Research Institute, Maiduguri and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics Experimental station at Bagauda, Kano, Nigeria. These pearl millet cultivars were used because they have negligible tannin content (Badau et al., 2002), high hydrochloric acid extractability of minerals (Badau et al., 2005c), high sugars content (Badau et al., 2005 b) and high amylase activities (Badau et al., 2006b) and generally they have good malting properties(Badau et al., 2006a). Culture media used were nutrient agar (International Diagnostics group, PLC, Plancashire BC9 6AU, U.K.) for total bacterial aerobic plate count, mannitol salt agar (International Diagnostics group, PLC, Plancashire BC9 6AU, U.K.) for staphylococcal count, sabouraud dextrose agar (Biotech Laboratories Ltd, 38 Anson Road Marthesham Heat Ipswich, Suffolk IP5 3RG, U.K.) for yeast count, MacConkey (International Diagnostics group, PLC, Plancashire BC9 6AU, U.K.) for coliform count. Others were Salmonella/Shigella (International Diagnostics group, PLC, Plancashire BC9 6AU, U.K.) for Internet Journal of Food Safety, Vol.8, 2006, p. 66-72 Copyright© 2006, Food Safety Information Publishing