Assessment of the physicochemical and bacteriological qualities of Nono – a fermented cow milk

Nono is a spontaneously fermented yoghurt-like milk product consumed is a staple food commodity in parts of the Sub-Saharan West Africa. Nono is usually consumed along with 'Fura' as 'Fura da Nono' in Nigeria. Studies on physicochemical and bacteriological qualities were carried out on samples of Nono obtained from 5 different sources in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. The Nono samples were found to be nutritious, containing moderate levels of ash, crude fat, crude protein and carbohydrate. The pH of the Nono samples was relatively low (4.04 ±0.04), while the density and specific density were close to that of distilled water at room temperature. Total aerobic plate count of Nono samples was 1.8 ±0.02 × 106 CFU.mL-1. A total of 15 bacteria species namely Eubacterium nodatum, Bacillus subtilis, Chromobacterium violaceum, Propionibacterium acnes, Amycolatopsis benzotilytica, Tropheryma whipplei, Moraxella catarrhalis, Campylobacter gracilis, Neisseria sicca, Vibrio natiensis, Photobacterium damselae, Corynebacterium kutsceri, Corynebacterium xerosis, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus casei were isolated from the Nono samples. The gram-positive bacterial isolates were resistant to all antibiotics tested with the exception of Erythromycin where 40% susceptibility was obtained, while the gram-negative bacteria showed high resistance to the tested antibiotics, but with 80% susceptibility to Ofloxacin. The nono samples were observed to exhibit antibacterial activity against cultures of Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028, Escherichia coli ATCC 29929 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29293. Most of the bacteria isolated were of less public health importance, but the high prevalence of multi-drug resistance is of great concern.