© Kamla-Raj 2013 J Hum Ecol, 41(2): 151-155 (2013) Microbial Analysis of Commonly Stored Food Items in Household Refrigerators in Selected Containers G. Kaur, P. Sandhu and M. Sidhu Department of Family Resource Management, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India KEYWORDS Organoleptic Evaluation. Microbial Growth. Refrigeration Conditions. Shelf Life. Perishable Food. Total Plate Count ABSTRACT Nine food items were evaluated organoleptically and for microbial growth under refrigeration conditions. Organoleptic evaluation showed deterioration in appearance, colour, texture, and flavour of wheat flour dough, cooked meat, grapes, Paneer (Cottage cheese) and fresh Pudina (Mentha Sativa). Grapes stored in ordinary polythene bag were full of fungus in one day only; followed by significant number of yeast and mould count in cooked dal (split red lentil) when stored in plastic bin, Paneer in Verka packet, dough in plastic bin, Sharbat (Sweet drink prepared from rose petals) in plastic bottle and cake in its original wrapper after two days only. Total Plate Count was maximum in dough and Sharbat in plastic bin after two days of refrigeration followed by Paneer, cake, sauce and cooked dal (split red lentil) which was kept in plastic bin. Therefore it is recommended that food grade containers be used to ensure food safety in refrigerator. Address for correspondence: Dr. Pushpinder Sandhu; Professor, Department of FRM; COHSc; PAU, Ludhiana 141 001, Punjab, India Mobile: 09855556034 E-mail: spushi@rediffmail.com, pushi12@yahoo.com INTRODUCTION Refrigeration is employed to control the rate of certain chemical and enzymatic reactions as well as rate of growth of food microorganisms (Srivastava and Kumar 2002). Food spoilage slows down as molecular motion slows which retards growth of bacteria that causes food to spoil (Whitman et al. 2005). However, studies have shown that perishable food will deterio- rate, even at refrigerator temperature, due to spoilage because of microorganisms, enzymes and oxidation (Jay 2000). Type of container or wrapping material they are stored in and dura- tion of storage are also important factors that influence the type of microbial growth, toxicity and spoilage of food during refrigerated stor- age. Although low temperature retards spoilage but even a sub- freezing temperature of about 7 o C does not prevent multiplication of all micro- organisms. Refrigerated foods are therefore sub- jected to spoilage by moulds, yeasts and bacte- ria (Roday 2002). Moreover, temperature and cli- matic conditions prevalent in India; are conduc- tive to growth of bacteria causing food borne diseases. There is a wide variety of food containers and packing materials available in the market including glass, paper, plastic and stainless steel. Some of plastic containers are food grade and some are non food grade. Other like plastic wraps, bags or air tight containers are best choices for storing most of foods in refrigeration (Potter 2003). Packaging also must protect against a variety of assaults including physical damage and contamination from biological vectors in- cluding microorganisms. When better quality of containers and original packaging is used for the refrigeration; it can slow down the growth of microorganisms. Many diseases are caused by microorgan- isms, such as bacteria, viruses and parasitic in- festations arising out of food spoiled due to pro- longed storage of perishable and semi perish- able food items. Like Staphylococcus bacteria which produces a toxic as by-product of growth and multiplication and cause food intoxication (Haghi 2011). Although ample research points out these conditions, none has so far been able to look into effect of containers/wrappers on food deterioration in refrigeration conditions. Hence the present study was been planned with the following objectives: 1. To organoleptically evaluate selected foods stored in selected containers under refrig- eration conditions. 2. To undertake microbiological analysis to ascertain shelf-life of selected food prod- ucts stored under refrigeration conditions in selected storage materials.