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Pak. J. Bot., 44: 267-270, Special Issue March 2012.

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MICROBIAL ASSESSMENT OF UNCOOKED AND COOKED RICE SAMPLES AVAILABLE IN LOCAL MARKETS OF LAHORE

ARIFA TAHIR^1*, ISBAH HAMEED¹ MADIHA AFTAB¹ AND BUSHRA MATEEN²

Abstract: The aim of this study is to assess microbial quality of rice in Lahore.A total of 20 rice samples  purchased from different markets  were analyzed to study the density of microorganisms by standard plate count (SPC), fungal count (FC), coliform counts (CC) and prevalence of Bacillus cereus. The Moisture Content was also investigated. Highest moisture content (14.9%) was found in the samples purchased from Samnabad while the lowest moisture content (8.46%) was observed in “Flora Basmati Rice”. The microbial load was found to be higher in unbranded rice samples. The Fungal genus isolated from cooked and uncooked rice samples were found to be in the order of Rhizopus spp. (76%), Aspergillus flavus (67%), Mucor spp. (64%), Aspergillus spp. (42%), Penicillium spp. (31%). All the samples showed the presence of B. cereus, the highest count (3.34x10¹ CFU/ml) was observed in unbranded samples taken from Sadar while the lowest count (0.933x10¹ CFU/ml) was recorded in Flora Basmati Rice. E. coli was absent in all samples analyzed.

¹Microbiology Research Center, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan

²Department of Chemistry, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Paskistan.