Micro Food In Sweetpotato

Sweetpotato (Ipomea batatas) is considered a staple crop in many considerable parts of Africa. According to FAOSTAT (2013), sweet potato has been considered as the seventh important food crop in the world. Agriculture has become more market oriented and sweetpotato is one of the many crops that help farmers obtain income and subsistence food security (Wheatly and Loechl, 2008). Sweetpotato are mainly eaten as staple food, consumed directly from the farm in a subsistence economy across the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The roots are consumed usually steamed, boiled or mashed and roasted, while the vines are eaten as vegetables in various places.
Sweetpotato is increasingly being recognized in the improvement of food security, health and livelihoods of poor families in SSA. Oloo et al.,(2014) and Duvernay ( 2013 ) pointed out that sweet potato has some good attributes over other root crops which include; its ability to tolerate drought, having low demand on soil nutrient ,having the capability to provide reasonable yields, flexibility in planting and harvesting period ,low inputs requirements like fertilizer and shorter growing period.
Sweetpotato are very nutritious and have good sensory qualities in terms of taste, texture and the flesh colors. The flesh color is responsible for the large amounts of anthocyanin, dietary fiber, folic acid, ascorbic acid,
During processing of the OFSP puree, vegetative microorganisms that may be present in the raw materials are destroyed in the application of heat during cooking. However, there may be a high post heating contamination potential by both pathogenic and nonpathogenic microorganisms like Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (Perez-Diaz et al., 2008). The post heating contamination can pose a food safety risk if the puree is not well stored and handled (Shin et al.,