DETERMINATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL, ANTIOXIDANT, AND SENSORIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF METATA AYIB (ETHIOPIAN TRADITIONAL SPICED AND RIPENED CHEESE)

Metata ayib is a traditional Ethiopian ripened ayib (cottage cheese) and it is processed
from traditional ayib with different types of spices through spontaneous fermentation for
up to 15-20 days. The objective of this study was determination of antioxidant,
antimicrobial, probiotic nature, microbial quality, sensorial characteristics and
physicochemical properties of spiced metata ayib. The total phenolic and total flavonoid
contents of the extracts were determined by the Folin ciocalteu and aluminum chloride
methods, respectively. The antioxidant activities were determined by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-
picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and ferric reducing power. The antimicrobial
activity was evaluated by circle diffusion method, and the probiotic nature was
determined by using de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) selective agar media and broth
for lactobacilli bacteria. The total microbial quality was determined with in interval of
time. Sensorial characteristic was determined using affective taste by nine point hedonic
scale. Data"s were analyzed and tabulated using SPSS versions 24. The strongest DPPH
scavenging activity (IC50) was 51μg/ml. (Spice mixture) and the lowest was low spiced
metata ayib (IC50 65.58). The highest total flavonoid and total phenol content was 52.03
± 12.22 and 126.14 ± 31.14 μg/ml, respectively on the extract of spice mixture while the
lowest content was 25.43 ±1.4 and 85.47 ± 10.49 μg/ml, respectively on the extracts of
low spiced metata ayib.