Study on the pH of ogi, Nigerian fermented weaning food, and its effect on enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi.

The pH values of both cooked and uncooked ogi samples were determined and the survival of nalidixic acid-resistant enteropathogenic Escherichia coli OB 26 34/20, Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi A when seeded into cooked ogi were studied. The pH values of ogi ranged from pH 3.0 to 3.9. Cooked ogi had a slightly lower pH value than uncooked ogi. Our survival experiments showed that the inoculated enteric pathogens were considerably inhibited in cooked ogi during storage for 24 h. The antibacterial effect of cooked ogi was more pronounced on enteropathogenic E. coli with a log10 5 decline in bacterial count within 6 h.