ABSTRACT
Fishes are variety of vertebrates of several evolutionary lines. It is a life-form rather than a taxonomic group. As members of the phylum Chordata, fish share certain features with other vertebrates. Fishes have low-fat contents and provide wide range of health benefits. Fish will become unfit for human consumption within about one day of capture, unless it is subjected to some form of processing or preservation. Even after the fish has been processed, particularly if traditional methods have been used, the fish is still subject to many forms of loss and spoilage. This study was aimed at determining the bacteria contamination of three species of smoked fish (Merluccius merluccius (Merluza), Sardina caerulea (Scombia) and Lulilus comutus (Sese) sold in some markets in Benin City, Edo State. A total of One hundred and twenty (120) samples were collected for this study, 24 samples each from the different markets in Benin City, Edo State. From each Market (Uselu Market, New-Benin Market, Oliha Market, Ikpoba-Hill Market and Oba Market), eight (8) samples each were taken from smoked fish (Merluccius merluccius (Merluza), Sardina caerulea (Scombia) and Lulilus comutus (Sese). Ten grams (10g) of each fish sample were macerated in a mortar and then dissolved in a test-tube containing 90ml of ringer’s solution to obtain a solution. A 0.1ml aliquotof 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, 10-5 and 10-6 dilution was aseptically removed with a sterile pipette and inoculated into the appropriate media (MacConkey agar, Blood agar and Nutrient agar), the plates were incubated at 37°C for 24hrs. The p-value obtained from the bacteria counts was statistically significant ( p =0.0032) as total count varied according to each of the sample. The result also shows a little variations on the average bacterial count among the smoked fish samples, thus, Merluza had 1.41 x 105 CFU/ml while Scombia and Sese had the same value of 2.07 x 105 CFU/ml respectively at p<0.05. The results obtained from the study showed that smoked fish had moderately high prevalence rate 81 (67.5%) of bacteria present. Five different bacteria genera were isolated. The bacteria isolated were Klebsiella spp, Escherichia coil, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter spp and Staphylococcus aureus. Klebsiella spp the is the most prevalent bacteria isolated with percentages distribution of 34(42%), followed by Enterobacter spp with 24(29.6%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus with 13(42%), followed by Escherichia coil with 6(7.4%) and Proteus mirabilis with 4(4.9%). In conclusion, this study revealed that smoke fishes sold in some markets in Benin City are contaminated with bacteria. Caution should be exercised in consuming smoked fish shaded openly because such fish could contain bacteria cells and reheating may be necessary to destroy or inactivate such cells.
