Abstract
Microorganisms associated with post-harvest spoilage of tomato fruits in Makurdi were evaluated. Random sampling techniques were used to select 250 spoilt tomato fruits from North-bank, Wurukum, High level, Wadata and Modern markets. The bacteria isolated were Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtillis, Esherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus while isolated fungi included Aspergillusspp, Alternaria species, Rhizopusspp, Candida species and Fusarium species. The bacteria isolated, from the spoilt tomato fruits sampled from Wurukum market had the highest colony forming unit of 6.5 x 10 (CFU/ml) followed by the ones sampled from Wadata, High-level, North-bank and Modern markets having 5.8 x 10 6 (CFU/ml), 4.3 x 10 6 (CFU/ml), 4.3 x 10 6 (CFU/ml), and 2.8 x 10 6 (CFU/ml) respectively. The fungi isolated from the spoilt tomato fruits from Wadata market had the highest colony forming unit of 6.7 x 10 (CFU/ml) followed by the samples from Wurukum, North-bank, High-level and Modern markets with 5.2 x 10 (CFU/ml), 4.6 x 10 (CFU/ml), 4.4 x 10 (CFU/ml) and 4.2 x 10 (CFU/ml) respectively.Using the same sampling techniques pathogenicity test on fifty (50) healthy tomato fruits from the same markets confirmed that bacteria and fungi that were earlier identified on the spoilt tomato fruits were still responsible for the spoilage, showing that deterioration of tomato fruits in Makurdi markets is due to the activities of these bacteria and fungi pathogens. Proper sanitary measures should be taken to improve harvesting and handling of tomato fruits to reduce spoilage caused by these pathogens.
Key words: Microorganisms, Tomato, Lycopersicum esculentum, Makurdi, Central Nigeria