Microbial Contamination of Tahini, Flavored Tahini and Halva in Yazd, Iran. 2017

Tahini is obtained from sesame seeds. Hawala ardeh comes from the addition of roots of Chubak plant, citric acid, sugar and other additives to tahini. The flavored tahini is made from tahini by adding comes from the addition of cocoa or chocolate powder to the tahini. The high fat content of these products, low activity water content, and high levels of nutrients in these products provide a good environment for the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. Contamination of these products is sometimes unacceptable for human consumption and is often show to be a potential health risk. Hence, this investigation was done to assess the microbial quality of sesame products in Yazd province in 2017. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 51 tahini, 60 Halva ardeh and 16 flavored tahini. Presence of pathogenic microorganism such as Escherichia coli, Enterobacteriaceae, coliform, yeasts and molds were analyzed by standard methods. Results revealed that in 51 tahini samples no microbial contamination was detected. The contamination level of flavored tahini to Enterobacteriaceae was 12.5% (n= 2) and mold was 12.5% (n= 2). In halva ardeh, About 6.66% (n= 4), 1.67% (n= 1), 5% (n= 3) and 1.67 % (n=1) of total samples were contaminated higher than standard level for Escherichia coli, Enterobacteriaceae, mold and yeast respectively. The contamination is mainly because of poor quality of water, public unhygienic conditions associated with washing of services, poor personal hygiene. Results show that temperature changes, the moisture content that the product is exposed during the period of production, storage, distribution and consumption, health education of the staff, regular controlling and promotion of health standards may reduce contaminants of these products.