ROLE OF BACTERIA IN THE SPOILAGE OF SMOKED DRIED FISH IN EKOSODIN MARKET

ABSTRACT

Fish spoilage usually triggered by microbial activities poses a dreaded challenge to fish farmers and fishermen due to severe economic losses associated with it. Dried fish products could be contaminated due to poor handling during the smoking process or poor packaging. The aim of this work was to identify the bacteria involved in spoilage of dry fish. Standard bacteriological methods were used to determine the total bacterial count of the fish sample using pour plate methods after serial dilution. The bacterial isolates were characterized and identified using morphological and biochemical methods. The percentage distribution and frequency of the isolates were evaluated using statistical method. From the result obtained in this study, the total heterotrophic bacterial count ranged from 4.28±1.50 log10cfu/g to 4.55±1.00 log10cfu/g. The total coliform counts obtained in this study ranged from 3.00±2.5 log10cfu/g to 3.81±1.50 log10cfu/g. Using the cultural, morphological and biochemical test results, the bacterial isolates obtained in this study were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp, Enterobacter sp, Pseudomonas sp and Shigella sp. The bacteria obtained from this study were all susceptible to few antibiotics namely perfloxacin, amoxicillin, rocephin and ciprofloxacin but were resistant to ampiclox, zinnacef, sulfamethoxazole and gentamicin. This study has revealed that the level of microbial contamination of dry fish products could either be environmentally dependent or on the economic decisions of the fish farmers. It also revealed fish contamination as a public health problem. Eating uncooked dry fish could be hazardous and should be avoided.