Identification of Food Spoilage Microorganisms in Different Species of Dacryodes edulis

Background: Dacryodes edulis fruit, also known as African pear, is a very popular seasonal fruit in Africa with high economic and nutritional value but very short shelf-life. Aim: The study aimed to identify food spoilage microbes in different species of D. edulisfruits. Method: A cross-sectional study design was used to collect 4 species of D. edulis fruits, with 2 fruits of each species. Conventional microbiological analyses were performed to identify the microorganisms present before and after spoilage. Results: The bacterial counts showed no significant differences in levels before and after spoilage across all species (p > 0.05). Similarly, the fungal count demonstrated no significant differences in the averages of the threespecies A, C and D (p > 0.05), except for species B (pre-spoilage: 20.0±2.8, post-spoilage: 10.0±1.4 x103cfu/ml) which exhibited a significant decrease in fungal load post-spoilage (p = 0.0465). The bacterial prevalence indicates stable populations of Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus aureus spp., and Klebsiella spp. in most species, with the exception of Klebsiella spp. in species D, which significantly increased post-spoilage (p = 0.0033) Only Klebsiella spp was significantly lower (p=.0033) at pre-spoilage stage (36.5±4.9 ×104cfu/ml) with prevalence of 10% compared to post-spoilage (122.5±4.9 ×104cfu/ml) with prevalence of (26%) spoilage in species D. Th fungal prevalence showed that onlyYeast spp. remained dominant across all species, while Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., and Rhizopus spp. were inconsistently present. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the presence of Bacillus spp, S.aureus, Aspergillus spp, Yeast spp and Rhizopus sppin spoilt African pear and these bacteria could contribute to the deterioration of pears.It also suggests that spoilage does not significantly alter microbial prevalence in D. edulis, except in isolated cases.