Abstract:
Tella is home processed traditional fermented alcoholic beverage commonly consumed in
Ethiopia. In depth study of its physicochemical parameters including microbiology is vital for
safety of the community who drinks tella. Therefore, the aim of this study was, to analyze
fermented tella quality in terms of physicochemical parameters (alcohol, CO2, titratable acidity
(TA) contents, pH, refractive index and microbial loads) of tella from Jimma city. To study the
parameters, 19 total tella samples were purposively collected from three kebeles of Jimma city
such as Kochi, Matrik Sefer and Merkato in the morning. Standard analytical methods were used
for analysis of physicochemical and microbial load of tella. The analysis, of tella from sampling
sites of (Kochi, Matrik Sefer and Merkato), showed Anaerobic Mesophilic Bacteria (AMB): 4.28
± 0.03, 5.5 ± 0.04, 4.64 ± 0.03 log CFU/mL, lactic acid bacteria (LAB): 8.01 ± 0.14, 6.65 ± 0.03,
7.24 ± 0.04 log CFU/mL yeast: 6.28 ± 0.04, 5.09 ± 0.01, 6.74 ± 0.04) log CFU/mL and
Enterobacteriaceae (EB): 1.1 ± 0.01, 2.02 ± 0.01, 1.14 ± 0.01 log CFU/mL, respectively.
Obtained results showed that, there was significance difference (p < 0.05), among house of tella
venders and samples sites in microbial load and physicochemical properties. From the study, the
microbial load and physicochemical analysis were within the recommended ranges, except some
of Kochi and Merkato tella has pH values below the EBC recommended. The result revealed that
Kochi tella has significantly higher in microbial load, TA and CO2 content than Matrik sefer and
Merkato tella. In this study, microbial loads were found in the tolerable standard below 10
CFU/mL according to EBC standard. Thus, it is recommended that brewing of tella should be
carried out in aseptic conditions in order to avoid risks of having pathogenic bacteria.
