Microbiological Quality of Tehineh Manufactured in Saudi Arabia

Tehineh is a product obtained by the milling of dehulled and roasted white sesame seeds. A total of 50 tehineh samples was collected from ten processing plants in Saudi Arabia. These samples were examined by standard procedures for aerobic plate counts (APC) and counts of coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus cereus , Clostridium perfringens , molds and yeasts and detection of salmonellae. APC of tehineh ranged from 20 to 170,000 CFU/g. The counts for coliforms, S. aureus , B. cereus , C. perfringens , and molds and yeasts ranged from <10 to 300, <10 to 400, <10 to 250, <10 to 100, <10 to 120 and <10 to 50 CFU/g, respectively. Two out of ten tehineh plants (20%) were positive for four Salmonella serotypes. Four Salmonella serotypes recovered were Salmonella hadar , Salmonella agona , Salmonella einsbuettel and Salmonella ubrecht , with S. hadar being the most predominant. The results of this investigation indicate that foodborne pathogens present in tehineh may constitute a potential public health hazard.