Prevalence of Aflatoxigenic Aspergillus sp. in Dried Salted Fish from Traditional Market in Bandung City, Indonesia

Abstract

Salted fish is an important source of protein and income in Bandung City, Indonesia. Meanwhile, salted fish products that are contaminated with aflatoxin-producing molds can pose a considerable hazard to consumers’ health. This study aims to determine the presence of aflatoxigenic Aspergillus sp. that contaminates salted fish products. A total of 8 samples of dried salted anchovy and 7 samples of dried salted cotton fish from 8 retailers in traditional market were analyzed for fungal contamination, sample physicochemical factors, and prevalence of aflatoxigenic Aspergillus sp.. This research was divided into 4 stages, namely, total mold calculation, identification of molds through morphological observations, isolation, screening, and molecular identification of aflatoxin-producing molds. Using internal transcribed spacer (ITS), Nor-1, and Ord1 primers, 8 out of 66 mold isolates from salted fish samples were isolated and identified.The results showed that the dominant genera in dried salted anchovy and cotton fish are Aspergillus sp. (36.8% and 53.6%), followed by other genera (36.8% and 28.6%) and Penicillium sp. (26.3% and 17.9%). The total fungal counts in the dried salted anchovies and cotton fish ranged from 2.50 × 102 to 4.00 × 102 cfu/g, and 5.00 × 100 to 1.40 × 102 cfu/g. The prevalence of dried salted anchovy samples was 13.16% (3 of 28) and in the dried salted cotton fish sample was 12.12% (5/38). In general, the characteristics of positive aflatoxigenic samples have a temperature of 26.3 to 38.0°C, relative humidity of 44% to 59%, salt content of 3.06% to 16.06%, aw 0.71 to 0.79, and pH 6.13 to 8.75. The presence of aflatoxigenic Aspergillus sp. in salted fish sold in the Bandung market poses a potential hazard to consumer health.