BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION INSPECTION ON ICED TEA CIRCULATING IN SUDIREJO MEDAN VILLAGE IN TOTAL PLATE NUMBER (ALT)

Abstract

Tea is one of the popular beverages in Indonesia due to its low price and pleasant flavor. Potential contamination factors in tea beverages include the added water, which may have unknown quality, the cleanliness of the seller during preparation, the hygiene of the selling environment, and the water used for washing the tools, all of which could lead to bacterial contamination. This study aims to determine the presence of bacterial contamination and the differences in bacterial colony counts between home industry iced tea and packaged iced tea, in accordance with the standards set by the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and SNI 3143:2011, which stipulates that the total plate count of bacteria should not exceed 102. The research involved selecting and collecting samples, including 10 home industry samples and 5 packaged iced tea samples available in Sudirejo Village. The bacterial contamination test in the samples was conducted using the total plate count (TPC) method, which involved serial dilution using Lactose Broth (LB) media from dilutions of ^10-1 – 10-4. The diluted samples were mixed with Plate Count Agar (PCA) media at a temperature of 45°C±10°C and incubated upside down at 35°C±2°C for 24 hours. The number of bacterial colonies that grew on each plate was then observed and counted. The results showed that all 10 samples of home industry iced tea in Sudirejo Village had TPC values that did not meet the standards, while all 5 packaged iced tea samples met the requirements of not exceeding 1 x 10² as established by BPOM and SNI 3143:2011.