Environmental Effects on Physicochemical Compositions, Microbial Load and Heavy Metal Content of Retailed Cut Fruits in NsukkaMain Market Enugu, Nigeria

The study evaluated the environmental effects on physico-chemical compositions, microbial load and heavy metal content of cut fruits retailed in Nsukka main market. Whole fruits were procured from fruit vendors in the market. They were washed, peeled (except watermelon) and divided into three portions each and designated as PA0, PA4, PA8; PP0, PP4, PP8 and WM0, WM4, WM8 for pineapple, pawpaw and watermelon collected at 0,4,8 hours respectively. A portion from each fruit was picked at three different times (8 am, 12 noon and 4 pm designated as 0, 4, 8 hour) and were analyzed for physicochemical (proximate, pH, titratable acidity, °Brix value, vitamin content) properties, microbial (total viable, mold and coliform count) load and heavy metal (lead, cadmium and nickel) content. The proximate analysis showed that all the fruit collected at 8 am had the highest moisture content (78.83% - 93.29 %) and gradually decreased at 12 noon and 4 pm. There were significant (p<0.05) differences only in carbohydrate 25023.content and energy value for proximate parameters. The pH, brix and vitamins all showed significant differences in all fruits and at different collection time. The pH for pawpaw and watermelon increased with increase in exposure time while °Brix value and vitamins significantly (p<0.05) decreased. Microbial analysis indicated the presence of microbes in all fruits with total viable count range of 0.83× 103 – 2.9 × 103 CFU/g. The result of cadmium and nickel detected ranged from 0.015 – 0.08 mg/kg and 0.103 – 0.82 mg/kg respectively. This study showed that cutting and exposing of fruits affected their proximate, pH, °Brix value, vitamins, microbial load and heavy metal accumulation.