Food & Nutrition

Arab Journal of Food & Nutrition
63. A Study of the Microbiological Quality of Some Traditional Beverages
Consumed in Jordan (2003)
Reem Adel Nassereddin\ University of Jordan
Supervisor: Dr Mohammed I. Yamani
This study was conducted to evaluate the microbiological quality of traditional
drinks mostly consumed in Jordan. The study included 21 samples of sous (a drink
prepared by extracting dried roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra), 44 samples of tamarind (a
drink prepared by infusing of Tamarindus indica dried pulp) and 31 samples of laban
drink (a drink prepared by dilution of yoghurt with water). Samples were collected
from the local market in Amman, Jordan.
Water is the major component of the three drinks, thus water activity (a w ) of the
drinks is anticipated to be high. Tamarind and laban drinks are characterized by being
acidic (average pH of these samples were 2.8 and 3.3, respectively), while sous drink
has an alkaline pH (average pH was 8.6). None of these drinks is processed for safety
before serving, in addition at some vendors drinks were not properly kept refrigerated.
The means of the aerobic plate count, and the counts of lactic acid bacteria and
yeasts in sous drink samples were 7.9×10 5 , 1.0×10 5 and 6.3×10 3 cfu/ml respectively; in
tamarind drink samples the respective counts were 1.0×10 4 ,