Microbiological and physicochemical quality of locally processed agro-food products in Burkina Faso: assessing post-production supply chain vulnerabilities

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Locally processed agro-food products are central to West African diets, infant and complementary feeding, local entrepreneurship and access to culturally appropriate foods. Post-production handling, packaging, transport, storage and retail exposure may compromise microbial and physicochemical quality. This study assessed ten locally processed agro-food products marketed in Burkina Faso and evaluated product-specific post-production supply-chain vulnerabilities at the retail level. RESULTS: Thirty samples were collected, comprising three independent batches of each of the following products: infant pearl millet-soy-peanut flour (P1), fortified infant flour (P2), instant multi-cereal porridge (P3), dehydrated attiéké (P4), dried mango (P5), natural honey (P6), cottonseed cooking oil (P7), hibiscus juice (P8), Moringa oleifera leaf powder (P9) and roasted cashew nuts (P10). All continuous variables were z-score standardized prior to multivariate analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) retained two components explaining 76.9% of total variance (PC1: 53.3%; PC2: 23.6%). The highest post-production vulnerability composite index (PPVCI) scores were observed for Moringa oleifera leaf powder (P9, rank 1) and hibiscus juice (P8, rank 2); intermediate profiles were identified for infant flours (P1, rank 3) and multi-cereal porridge (P3, rank 4); and the lowest profiles were recorded for honey (P6), cottonseed oil (P7) and roasted cashew nuts (P10). CONCLUSIONS: The study provides baseline evidence for targeted quality-assurance interventions. Priority actions include: strengthened hygiene control during drying, milling and packaging; improved moisture-proof packaging for powders and dried products; cold-chain and water-quality control for hibiscus juice; oxidative stability monitoring for oil and lipid-rich products; and enhanced surveillance of infant foods and nutritional supplements. Future studies should incorporate mycotoxin screening and molecular confirmation methods.