Abstract
Plant extracts, meals, or pellets are used as additives in promoting the quality of meat and its products. This study investigated the influence of phyto-additives (onion, garlic, clove, and ginger) and application forms (powder and extract) on the proximate and bacteriological qualities of fried beef. Fifty grams (50g) of each prepared powdered additive were sprinkled on six (6) pieces of boiled beef of 35-40g/piece to the first group of meat, and six pieces were dipped in 50ml of extracts of the same additives. The samples were left for 30 minutes to equilibrate before frying. The treated beef samples were then adequately fried in vegetable oil after holding for four minutes, separately. The samples were analyzed for proximate and bacteriological load. Results showed that phyto additives significantly affected (p<0.05) all proximate parameters except ash and crude fiber. Similarly, forms of application significantly affected (p<0.05) all proximate parameters. There was no significant interaction (p>0.05) between natural additives and the form of application on proximate parameters. The Total Bacterial Count (TBC) ranged between 2.4×10^4 to 3.5×10^4 cfu/g across the samples. A total of five bacterial species (Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia) belonging to different genera were isolated from the samples. It was concluded that all the additives tested, especially the powdered forms of onion and garlic with the least TBC and fewest isolates, can be used as natural additives to improve the nutritional quality and safety of the product.

Key words: Phyto-additives, application forms, proximate, bacterial load, Fried Beef