Asian Food Science Journal

Suya, a traditional West African grilled meat product, is highly susceptible to nutritional and microbiological deterioration during ambient-temperature storage. This study evaluated the effects of four packaging materials cellophane film (CF), aluminium foil (AF), glass jar (GJ), and newspaper (NP) on the proximate composition and microbial safety of suya stored at 25°C for 14 days. Proximate analysis revealed initial moisture contents ranging from 16.25% (AF) to 23.17% (GJ), crude protein from 13.62% (CF) to 17.43% (GJ), and crude fat from 14.20% (GJ) to 28.00% (NP). During storage, NP-packaged samples underwent dramatic desiccation (16.33% to 2.20% moisture by day 14), while CF, GJ, and AF samples showed progressive moisture accumulation reaching 34–37% by day 14. Ash content increased markedly in NP samples (3.94% to 9.25% a 135% rise), indicative of chemical migration from the packaging. Aerobic bacterial counts in freshly prepared samples ranged from 3.6 × 10⁴ (CF) to 1.1 × 10⁵ CFU/g (AF), with pathogenic isolates including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, and Aspergillus flavus detected across packaging types. CF maintained the lowest aerobic bacterial count at day 14 (1.1 × 10⁴ CFU/g). These findings establish CF as the superior packaging material for nutritional retention and microbial control, while NP is contraindicated due to chemical migration and inadequate moisture barrier properties.