Abstract
Chemical assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) on processed African catfish was carried out. Fish samples were processed using charcoal, firewood and gas oven following standard procedures. Gas chromatographic analysis was employed for PAHs determination. Results showed that mean PAHs concentrations in fish samples were observed to be: 737.86ng/μl in firewood-smoked samples, 1451.82ng/μl in charcoal and 1990.23ng/μl in oven-dried fish. The highest mean concentration of PAHs was 906.93±0.01 ng/μl for pyrene from the charcoal-smoked samples. Lower molecular weight PAHs were generally dominant in tested samples. The number of PAHs ring showed significant variation (p<0.05) with respect to processing methods. Inference from the results showed that differently processed fish samples were of good quality and are suitable for human consumption. However, the charcoal processed samples appeared to be the best when considering the case of incomplete combustion of the wood during the drying process. Therefore, the use of charcoal in fish processing is hereby recommended. Also, it is suggested that fish processors be trained on the appropriate handling and processing methods to adopt in order to enhance the production of high-quality contaminants-free fish products.
 Keywords: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH), anthropogenic, combustion, smoking methods, contaminants.
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