Abstract:
Usha is a lightly white, thick law alcohol content it produced by using ingredients including
barley (Hordeum vulgare), teff (Eragrostis teff), maize, sorghum, barley& malt it is widely
consumed by native people of the Yem Zone in central Ethiopia. However, due to the fact that
scientific research on Usha can't be found, this study aimed to investigate its microbiological,
physicochemical, and nutritional characteristics. Cross-sectional survey: ―to document usha
assess socio demographic factors related to traditional preparation techniques and
laboratory-based experimental study design was employed to. (Microbial safety, microbial
succession) during controlled fermentation of Usha, nutritional dynamics for the isolation,
characterization of the microorganisms, and physicochemical and nutritional parameters
were evaluated under laboratory conditions following standard microbiological techniques.
A total of 30 Usha samples three samples from each (10 kebele) were collected from vending
site, market, and households in Fofa District Yem Zone. Data were analyzed using the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27. The results indicated that
approximately 96.36% of usha producers were young women, with 79.09% engaged in
farming. Microbial analysis showed that yeasts dominated usha with a mean count of 6.74 ±
0.1log CFU/ml, followed by lactic acid bacteria (6.54±0.1 log CFU/ml). A total of 250
bacteria and 150 yeast isolates were characterized and grouped into genera. Notably,
Salmonella was not detected. Aerobic mesophilic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, and
Staphylococci dominated the early stages of fermentation, with the mean counts of 6.09
±0.01, 3.88±0.01, and 4.2±0.01logCFU/ml respectively. By the end of fermentation, lactic
acid bacteria and yeasts exhibited the highest mean counts (7.6±0.04 and 7.5±0.09 log
CFU/ml, respectively, through no significant differences (p > 0.05) were observer. During
fermentation, the pH dropped from 4.09 ±0.01 to 3.41±0.06. The mean values for
physicochemical and nutritional parameters were as follow: pH (3.90 ± 0.5), titratable
acidity (0.5 ± 0.11), alcohol content (3.54 ± 0.01), moisture content (78.03 ± 0.9), ash (2.74 ±
0.3), fat (1.54 ± 0.2), protein (15.99 ± 1.5), and carbohydrates (3.5 ± 0.3). Finally, this study
revealed the detection of food borne pathogens suggests the potentials post production
contaminants, as the physicochemical properties of the ready to consume usha are generally
stringent for most microbes.
