Abstract:
The study was conducted at Yabello, Arero and Dire districts of Borana zone, Oromia
Regional State, Ethiopia, aimed to assess production practices, physicochemical properties
and microbial quality of ititu produced in the study area. The study contains both survey
on production and handling practices of traditional made ititu and laboratory experiment
for physicochemical and microbial quality of traditionally and laboratory made ititu. A
total of 180 households selected purposively from three districts, and then six Kebeles were
randomly selected from three districts for the survey study. A total of 35 Ititu samples (30
traditionally made plus 5 laboratories made ititu) were analyzed for their physicochemical
properties and microbiological quality. The result of survey showed that, among the
interviewed households, only 39% and 3% wash their hands and wash udder of cow before
milking, respectively. Most pastoral households used pond water for cleaning milk utensils
(67%) followed by hand dug well (14%). According to respondents, ititu is made from cow
milk by spontaneous fermentation without addition of any starter culture. The removal of
the whey part (i.e. called “Dhama” in local language) from fermented milk is more
practiced within 3-4 days of interval and followed by adding the fresh milk to fill Gorfa
(The complete process of fermentation takes place for 15 days under room temperature in
Gorfa). The overall average (±SD) values for pH, titratable acidity, total protein, fat, total
solids, and ash were 3.59 ±0.04, 2.86 ± 0.18%, 7.26 ± 0.41%, 9.85 ± 0.73%, 21.23 ±
1.48%, and 0.84 ± 0.11%, respectively for traditionally made ititu. The result of all
physicochemical parameters of traditional ititu were not significantly) different (p>0.05)
with laboratory made ititu (control sample).The average (±SD) total bacteria count (TBC),
coliform count (CC), yeast and mould count (YMC), Staphylococcus aureus count and
Listeria monocytogenes count were 8.36 ± 1.29, 3.47 ± 0.51, 8.06 ± 1.28, 3.79 ± 0.91 and
3.15±0.17log10 cfu/ml, respectively for traditional ititu. Whereas, the corresponding values
for the laboratory made ititu were 4.17 ± 0.55 log10 cfu/ml, 0, 5.76 ± 0.57 log10 cfu/ml, 0
and 0, respectively. Significant (p<0.05) differences were observed between traditional
and laboratory made ititu for coliform, S. aureus and L. monocytogenes count. The
Prevalence of pathogenic microorganisms for S. aureus and L. monocytogenes were
33.33% %and 6.67%, respectively for traditional made ititu. But, not detected for
laboratory made ititu for corresponding pathogenic microorganisms. The results indicated
that the quality of traditional ititu was substandard and not safe for consumption. This in
general, the production of ititu in the study area requires intervention such as awareness
creation of keeping good hygienic quality and pasteurization (heating up to boiling) of
milk to be used for ititu making in order to make it safe from public health point of view.
