Presence of Lactobacillus Species and their Antibiotic Resistance Patterns in Fermented Cassava and Corn obtained from Benin City, Nigeria

Nowadays, antibiotic resistance represents one of the most unrelenting public health encounters. Hence, the objective of this paper was to investigate the presence of Lactobacillus species and their antibiotic resistance patterns in fermented cassava and corn obtained from Benin City, Nigeria using appropriate standard methods. The results showed that the mean Lactobacillus count for cassava was 7.83 log CFU/mL and for corn was 6.99 log CFU/mL. The standard deviations were 0.68 for cassava and 0.72 for corn, indicating moderate variability. Kurtosis values were within ±1.96, suggesting that the data were approximately normally distributed. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was 0.828 (p = 0.003) and Spearman’s rho was 0.758 (p = 0.011), indicating a strong positive correlation between Lactobacillus counts in cassava and corn. Curve fitting showed that both linear and quadratic models were well-suited, with coefficient of determination (R²) values of 0.685 and 0.687, respectively, suggesting a significant predictive relationship. Antibiotic resistance analysis revealed the highest resistance levels in Ekiosa market (mean resistance of 3.4 ± 0.5) and the lowest in Okha area (2.1 ± 0.4). However, chi-square tests indicated no significant association between location and resistance levels (χ² = 2.45, p = 0.12). In conclusion, the study demonstrated a significant correlation between Lactobacillus counts in fermented cassava and corn, with consistent antibiotic resistance patterns across different locations in Benin City. These findings corroborate existing research and highlight the importance of monitoring microbial populations in fermented foods for both public health and food safety.