Chemical and microbiological qualities of smoked herring (sardinella eba,valenciennes 1847) in Odeda, Ogun state, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the chemical and microbiological qualities of smoked herring (Sardinella eba) at three
different locations in Odeda local government, Ogun state, Nigeria. The smoked fish samples were
aseptically collected from different processors and then analysed for moisture, crude protein, fat, crude fiber
and ash content. The pH, Peroxide Value (PV), Free Fatty Acid (FFA) and Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) were also
determined as well as Total plate, fungal, Coliform, Staphylococcal, Salmonella spp, and Listeria
monocytogenes counts using standard laboratory procedures. The moisture content ranged from 50.68 to
77.75%, ash 1.24 to 2.28%, fat 12.80 to 16.73%, crude fibre 0.18 to 0.30% and crude protein from 17.28 to
21.88%. There was significant difference (p <0.05) in the proximate composition of the smoked herring. The
Total plate count (TPC) ranged from 1.26 x 106 to 3.00×107
, fungal count from 0 to 3.50 x 103
, Staphylococci
from 2.50x102
to 2.90 x 103
, coliform from 0 to 2.00×103
cfu/g, Salmonella had zero tolerance. The pH, PV,
FFA and TBA of the smoked fish ranged from 5.92 to 6.57, 0.53 to 2.00 ml\kg, 0.05 to 0.06% and from 0.02 to
0.11 mg /kg, respectively. From this study, it showed that fish prepared under hygienic laboratory conditions
had lower microbial load. While, smoked fish collected at Camp location had the highest microbial load and
that from Alogi had the lowest microbial load.