Quality Assessment and Proximate Analysis of Amaranthus hybridus, Celosia argentea and Talinum triangulare obtained from open Markets in Benin City, Nigeria

The aim of this research is to determine the quality and proximate composition of Amaranthus hybridus, Celosia argentea, and Talinum triangulare obtained from open markets in Benin City, Nigeria. Microbiological and proximate analysis were carried out using standard methods. Results of the proximate analysis revealed the presence of proteins (12.86 ± 0.19 %; 9.28 ± 0.07 % and 2.82 ± 0.08 %), carbohydrates (9.06 ± 4.19 %; 8.28 ± 0.48 % and 12.22 ± 0.53 %), fibre (10.38 ± 0.25 %; 8.45 ± 0.13 % and 3.55 ± 0.17 %), lipids (0.23 ± 0.13 %; 1.44 ± 0.28 % and 1.06 ± 0.28 %), moisture (62.38 ± 4.05 %; 62.98 ± 0.38 % and 79.65 ± 0.56 %) and ash (mineral content) (5.10 ± 0.14 %; 9.58 ± 0.05% and 0.70 ± 0.12 %) in the green leaf, soko and water leaf respectively, needed for normal functioning of the body. However, microbial contaminants were observed which included bacterial and fungal species. The bacteria isolated were: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtillis, Enterobacter sp, Klebsiella sp, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, while the fungal species isolated were: Rhizopus stolonifer, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium solani, Aspergillus flavus, Mucor mucedo, Penicillium notatum, and Penicillium expansum. The bacterial count, coliform count and fungal count of A. hybridus were: 1.19 x 10^5 ± 4.52 x 10^4 cfu/g, 3.30 x 10^4 ± 1.82 x 10^4 cfu/g and 6.50 x 10^3 ± 3.32 x 10^3 cfu/g respectively. C. argentea had 1.56 x 10^5 ± 7.00 x 10^4 cfu/g, 3.88 x 104 ± 2.56 x 104 cfu/g and 6.00 x 103 ± 3.74 x 103 cfu/g respectively, while T. triangulare had 1.99 x 10^5 ± 9.31 x 10^4 cfu/g, 4. 93 x 10^4 ± 4.77 x 104 cfu/g and 4.78 x 10^3 ± 2.18 x 10^4 cfu/g respectively. Antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the bacterial isolates revealed multi-drug resistance and plasmid-mediated resistance genes among the isolates. Public enlightenment, proper washing and cooking with potable water are therefore recommended to avoid the menance of these multi-drug resistant microbial contaminants