MICROBIAL COUNTS AND IDENTIFICATION OF LACTIC ACID BACTERIA ASSOCIATED WITH READY TO DRINK ZOOM-KOOM COLLECTED FROM SELLING PLACES IN OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO

Zoom-koom is a very popular millet based beverage which has social and economic importancein Burkina Faso. The aim of this study was to investigate physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics, especially genotypic diversity of the predominant lactic acid bacteria (LAB) associated to commercial zoom-koom collected in the twelve districts of the city of Ouagadougou.Physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics were determined using standard methods. Identi?cation of microorganisms included phenotyping, Rep-PCR typing and sequencing of 16S rRNA. The pH of the ready to drinkzoom-koom samples varied from 3.2 to 4.4 while the acidity varied from 0.69 to 4.1 g of lactic acid/100 mL. Regarding the type of grains used to produce zoom-koom, 65%ofthe producersused unshelledmilletgrains,23% used shelled grains,and12% usedboth types of grains.LAB, enterobacteria and yeasts and molds counts ranged between 4.2 x 105 to 7.6 x 108CFU/mL, 1 x 101 to 7.1 x 105CFU/mL and 1.7 x 103 to 2.1 x 106CFU/mL, respectively. Results showed that most of the commercial zoom-koom collected in front of schools and health centers of the twelve districts do not respect microbiological criteria of quality for enterobacteria and yeasts and molds. At the species level,Lactobacillusplantarumsubsp.plantarumdominated (41.66%) zoom-koom vended nearby schools and health centers, followed by Pediococcuspentosaceus(37.5%)and Lactobacillusfermentum(20.83%).