Avaliação da qualidade microbiológica e do PH de gelados comestíveis

Abstract

Edible ice cream is a food product obtained from an emulsion of fats and proteins, or from a mixture of water, sugars and other ingredients and substances that have been subjected to freezing. Ice cream is an ideal medium for bacterial growth due to its high nutritional value, near-neutral pH and long storage period. Microbiological analyzes provide essential information about the quality of the raw material used, the cleanliness and preparation conditions of the food, in addition to the efficiency of the preservation method. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the microbiological and physical-chemical parameters, in accordance with current legislation, of different brands of popsicles sold in the city of João Pessoa/PB. Given this, this study analyzed seven samples of non-dairy-based and three dairy-based popsicles and for each brand, microbiological analyzes of Enterobacteria and Salmonella and physical-chemical pH analysis were carried out. For Enterobacteria, 30% of the samples analyzed do not fall within the limit of 10 CFU/g established by Normative Instruction 161. And for Salmonella, samples I and J showed suspicion of their presence. The results presented for pH analysis show that samples of dairy-based edible ice creams presented a pH close to neutrality, providing favorable conditions for the growth of microorganisms. Therefore, we can conclude that the contamination of edible ice cream samples may be associated with their composition, as there may be ingredients that provide an environment with favorable conditions for the studied microorganisms, as well as flaws in the manufacturing process, raw material, equipment, utensils and handlers of these products.