Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and microbial load of naturally preserved smoked African mud catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

A A Ayeloja,O O Atanda,A A Akinyemi,F O.A George

doi:10.4314/gjas.v54i2.2

A A Ayeloja, O O Atanda + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4314/gjas.v54i2.2

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Abstract

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) and microbial load of naturally preserved smoked African mud catfish (Clarias gariepinus Burchell, 1822) were examined. The experimental design was Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with the treatments been the variously preserved C. gariepinus catfish (garlic, ginger, garlic-ginger homogenate preserved and the control without spices). PAH and the microbial load were determined using standard experimental procedures. All PAH values were within internationally recommend value for human consumption, the aerobic mesophilic counts of unpreserved smoked catfish was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than other preserved smoked C. gariepinus (2.51 ± 0.01- 8.98 ± 0.02 log cfu/g); while garlic-ginger preserved smoked catfish product had the lowest aerobic mesophilic counts (2.48 ± 0.01-8.92 ± 0.01 log cfu/g) during the period of the experiment. Similar trends were observed in the mould fungal, Staphylococcal, coliform, Salmonella and Shigella counts. However, Staphylococcal counts, coliform count and Salmonella and Shigella counts were not detected in the samples at the onset of the experiment. The preserved smoked fish are good and safe for human consumptions when stored at ambient temperatures (25-36oC) for 56 days. The combination of garlic and ginger provide a much stronger antibiotic effect than the individual ingredients.

Highlights

Fish is a very important protein source in the diets of many people in the developing country as it constitutes about 60% of the total protein intake in adults especially in the rural areas (Akise et al, 2013)
The Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) content (Table 1) of the differently preserved smoked C. gariepinus revealed that benzo -a- pyrene which is highly carcinogenic was highest in the control smoked fish, followed by garlic preserved fish and followed by ginger preserved smoked C. gariepinus, while it was lowest in garlic-ginger preserved smoked C. gariepinus
The concentration of benzo (a) pyrene and other PAH in all the smoked fish samples were within internationally recommended value for human consumption of < 2 mg/kg (EFSA, 2002)

Summary

Introduction

Fish is a very important protein source in the diets of many people in the developing country as it constitutes about 60% of the total protein intake in adults especially in the rural areas (Akise et al, 2013). It is a highly proteinous food consumed by a larger percentage of the populace in Nigeria because of its availability and palatability. Ayeloja et al (2019) Ghana Jnl. Agric.

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