Abstract
Microbial evaluation of two edible seafood, Pomecia palludosa (apple snail) and Ergeria radiate (clam) were undertaking in this study to ascertain its consumption safety. These sea-food were processed as either fresh sundried or cooked oven-dried samples. Results revealed thatthe bacteria loadin fresh samples of E. Radiate (2.20 × 106 - TNT CFU/ml) was significantly (p<0.05) higher compared with P. palludosa (6.10 × 103 - 3.30 × 108 CFU/ml). The coliform count was also significantly (p<0.05) higher in E. radiate (4-10 coliform/100 ml) than in P. palludosa (3-6 coliform/100 ml). Cooking significantly (p<0.05) reduced the bacteria load and coliforms in both samples. In P. palludosa, a total of 26 bacteria were isolated: Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumonia were most frequent, a total of 20 bacteria were isolated from E. radiata, Vibro spp. and E. coli being most frequent. The three fungi isolates from fresh E. radiate and P. palludosa were completely eliminated by cooking. In conclusion, fresh samples of clam and apple snail contain huge microbial load, hence adequate processing and proper cooking is needed before they are consumed. Nevertheless, the vast microbial loads in these species of sea-food could serve as a ready source of microbes in some processing industries
Highlights
Pomacea palludosa are tropical fresh water snail from the family ampullaridae, while clams (Ergeria radiate) are bivalves mollusks with two shells that provide protection to the soft body
Each edible portion of the Ergeria radiate and P. palludosa were removed from their calcerous shells, for E. radiata, the edible portion was removed by making a bilateral incision to expose their content of the stomach which was flushed out with clean tap water and dried and for P. palludosa, the apple shaped shell was cracked after steeping in hot water for 5 minutes and the edible portion removed
The microbial load and coliform counts were higher in the fresh E. radiata compared with P. palludosa
Summary
Pomacea palludosa (apple snail) are tropical fresh water snail from the family ampullaridae (sometimes referred to as pilidae), while clams (Ergeria radiate) are bivalves mollusks with two shells that provide protection to the soft body. There are over 15,000 different species of these seafood’s worldwide [1,2] These sea-food have long been the focus of nutritional studies. Ergeria radiata on the other hand is found in big rivers with high rate of oil spills such as Ibeno, Calabar-Itu rivers etc, whereas Pomecia palludosa is found in fresh water streams devoid of the activities of oil companies.Microbial and environmental factors may play a role in determining the nutritional composition of these calcerous species. Reports on the microbial evaluation of E. radiata and Pomecia palludosa are scanty It is the aim of this study to undertake a comparative microbial evaluation of Ergeria radiate and Pomecia palludosa in order to ascertain their safety for consumption and the possible value of these edible sea food in processing industries
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