Aerobic plate count
Aerobic plate counts were determined by inoculating 0.1 ml of the homogenate sample onto triplicate sterile plates of prepoured and dried Standard Method Agar. Then, plates were incubated for 48 h at 35 C (ISO NF- 21149, 2006). Duplicates of each dilution (1 ml) of neutralized and non neutralized samples were pour-plated using Standard Method Agar (Oxoid, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England) and incubated at 30 C for 48 h. Plates containing 25–250 colonies were counted and the average number of CFU/g was calculated