Authors : C.N. Obi and A.J. Igbokwe
Abstract: Freshly laid and stored domestic fowl eggs of 7, 14 and 21 days old, respectively were microbiologically analyzed for organisms on their shells in the chalazae, albumen and yolks. All the egg parts were analyzed by plating on Nutrient, McConkey and Sabourand ’s Dextrose media, respectively. Nine bacterial isolates which include Salmonella sp., Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter sp., Bacillus subtilis, Alcaligene sp., Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Serratia marcescenes and five fungal genera namely Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, Monilia and Rhizopus were isolated and identified in all the samples. The bacterial load was in the range of 3.3 x106-1.5 x107 cfu mL -1 with the shell having the highest and the albumen the lowest load, respectively. Result showed presence of pathogenic microbes in the samples analyzed and it was concluded that domestic fowl eggs should not be consumed raw.
C.N. Obi and A.J. Igbokwe, 2009. Microbiological Analyses of Freshly Laid and Stored Domestic Poultry Eggs in Selected Poultry Farms in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 4: 1297-1303.