Microbial Load and Morphological Characterization of Bacteria and Fungi in Dough Stored at Different Temperatures and a Contaminated Pickle Sample
8 affiliations
- 1Institute of Food Science and Technology, Sindh Agricultural University, Tandojam, Sindh, Pakistan
- 2Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture Science, The University of Larkano, Sindh, Pakistan
- 3Department of Crop Physiology, Faculty of Crop Production, Sindh Agriculture University, Tando Jam, Pakistan
- 4Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences Uthal, Balochistan, Pakistan.
- 5Department of Entomology, Faculty of Crop Protection, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Sindh, Pakistan & College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- 6Department of Agronomy, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Sindh, Pakistan
- 7Department of Plant Protection, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Sindh, Pakistan
- 8Department of Entomology, Faculty of Crop Protection, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Sindh, Pakistan.
Abstract
Wheat dough is often kneaded in advance and held before use in south Asian households, yet little is known about how holding conditions affect its microbial load. This study isolated, enumerated and characterized bacteria and fungi from homemade kneaded wheat dough held for 24 h under refrigeration (4 °c; S1) or at room temperature (S2), and from a visibly contaminated homemade pickle (S3). ten-fold serial dilutions were spread on nutrient agar (NA; 10⁻⁵ and 10⁻⁶) and potato dextrose agar (PDA; 10⁻⁴ and 10⁻⁵), colonies were counted, pure bacterial cultures were obtained by streak plating, and four isolates (b1–b4) were described by colony morphology and gram reaction. only the 10⁻⁶ NA dilution gave countable plates for all samples. from these plates, the estimated bacterial load was highest in room-temperature dough (1.5 × 10⁹ CFU g⁻¹; 9.18 log CFU g⁻¹), lower in refrigerated dough (8.5 × 10⁸ CFU g⁻¹; 8.93 log CFU g⁻¹) and lowest in the pickle (4.8 × 10⁸ CFU g⁻¹; 8.68 log CFU g⁻¹). the pickle yielded the highest fungal count (72 colonies at 10⁻⁴; about 7.2 × 10⁶ CFU g⁻¹), and large, dark, spreading molds were evident on PDA from room-temperature dough. Three of the four bacterial isolates were gram-positive, and one was a gram-negative rod. fungal colonies were morphologically consistent with Aspergillus species (A. candidus- and A. niger-like). These identifications are presumptive because no molecular or other confirmatory tests were performed. because several Aspergillus species are potential mycotoxin producers, these observations have food-safety relevance, although mycotoxins were not measured in this study. Under the conditions examined, refrigeration was associated with a lower estimated bacterial load in kneaded dough; the study also illustrates a simple, low-cost culture-based workflow for teaching and screening laboratories and identifies the replication and confirmatory identification needed in future work.
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BibTeX
@article{shar2026microbial,
title = {{Microbial Load and Morphological Characterization of Bacteria and Fungi in Dough Stored at Different Temperatures and a Contaminated Pickle Sample}},
author = {Fatima Shar and Ghulam Sarwar Solangi and Mehar-un-Nisa Narejo and Farah Naz and Sumbul Mureed Mastoi and Um-e-Fatima Mangrio and Gulsher Mangrio and Shafique Ahmed Memon},
journal = {Journal of Microbiological Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.38211/jms.2026.05.241},
url = {https://doi.org/10.38211/jms.2026.05.241},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Microbial Load and Morphological Characterization of Bacteria and Fungi in Dough Stored at Different Temperatures and a Contaminated Pickle Sample
AU - Fatima Shar
AU - Ghulam Sarwar Solangi
AU - Mehar-un-Nisa Narejo
AU - Farah Naz
AU - Sumbul Mureed Mastoi
AU - Um-e-Fatima Mangrio
AU - Gulsher Mangrio
AU - Shafique Ahmed Memon
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - Journal of Microbiological Sciences
DO - 10.38211/jms.2026.05.241
UR - https://doi.org/10.38211/jms.2026.05.241
AB - Wheat dough is often kneaded in advance and held before use in south Asian households, yet little is known about how holding conditions affect its microbial load. This study isolated, enumerated and characterized bacteria and fungi from homemade kneaded wheat dough held for 24 h under refrigeration (4 °c; S1) or at room temperature (S2), and from a visibly contaminated homemade pickle (S3). ten-fold serial dilutions were spread on nutrient agar (NA; 10⁻⁵ and 10⁻⁶) and potato dextrose agar (PDA; 10⁻⁴ and 10⁻⁵), colonies were counted, pure bacterial cultures were obtained by streak plating, and four isolates (b1–b4) were described by colony morphology and gram reaction. only the 10⁻⁶ NA dilution gave countable plates for all samples. from these plates, the estimated bacterial load was highest in room-temperature dough (1.5 × 10⁹ CFU g⁻¹; 9.18 log CFU g⁻¹), lower in refrigerated dough (8.5 × 10⁸ CFU g⁻¹; 8.93 log CFU g⁻¹) and lowest in the pickle (4.8 × 10⁸ CFU g⁻¹; 8.68 log CFU g⁻¹). the pickle yielded the highest fungal count (72 colonies at 10⁻⁴; about 7.2 × 10⁶ CFU g⁻¹), and large, dark, spreading molds were evident on PDA from room-temperature dough. Three of the four bacterial isolates were gram-positive, and one was a gram-negative rod. fungal colonies were morphologically consistent with Aspergillus species (A. candidus- and A. niger-like). These identifications are presumptive because no molecular or other confirmatory tests were performed. because several Aspergillus species are potential mycotoxin producers, these observations have food-safety relevance, although mycotoxins were not measured in this study. Under the conditions examined, refrigeration was associated with a lower estimated bacterial load in kneaded dough; the study also illustrates a simple, low-cost culture-based workflow for teaching and screening laboratories and identifies the replication and confirmatory identification needed in future work.
SN - 2959-975X
ER -