ABSTRACT

The comparative nutritional and microbial qualities of vended peanut snacks in Lagos metropolis of Nigeria. Peanut snacks were randomly selected from vendors in there Local Government Area in Lagos, Nigeria. The snacks selected were raw peanuts, cooked peanuts, roasted peanuts, peanut candy and peanut cake. Proximate, mineral and microbial evaluation of the snacks were  carried out to compare the nutritional and microbial qualities of the vended peanut snacks. Cooked peanuts was observed to have the highest moisture content, this was followed by the raw peanuts. The total protein content of raw and roasted peanuts were significantly higher (p<0.05). Peanut candy and cooked peanut had significantly higher (p<0.05) fat contents. There was no significant difference between the ash contents of the studied peanut stacks, except for peanut candy which had a very low ash content (0.7%). Cooked

peanuts had the highest iron and calcium contents. Peanut candy was observed to have the highest magnesium content (304 mg/100g), Low zinc contents were observed in peanut cake and candy respectively. Total aerobic plate count was observed to be high in raw peanuts, yeast and mould was observed to be absent in peanut candy. While coliform was observed to be absent in roasted peanuts, peanut cake and peanut candy. The studied peanuts snacks hawked in the streets of Lagos metropolis are nutritionally rich and could meet the dietary needs of the population when consumed with other foods.  However, the presence of microbial pathogens in some of these snacks poses a potential health concern to the consuming public.