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ABSTRACT
This study investigated the microbial load of fresh and smoke-dried African river prawns (Macrobrachium vollenhovenii) treated with ginger from supermarkets and open market in Benin City. The bacteria mean count ranged between 1.11 x 103 + 0.33 cfu/g and 1.26 x 105 + 0.92 cfu/g while the fungi mean count ranged between 0.93 x 104 + 1.29 cfu/g and 4.25 x 104 + 2.90 cfu/g. The bacteria mean count in all fresh (control) samples was 1.36 x 105 + 1.01 x 105 cfu/gand 3.56 x 103 + 3.69 x 103 in all smoke-dried samples, while the fungi mean count was 2.73 x 104 + 1.85 x 104 cfu/g in all fresh samples and 1.46 x 104 + 1.36 x 104 cfu/g in all smoke-dried samples. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed in the bacteria and fungi mean count between the fresh (control) and smoke-dried samples across the sampling period. One hundred and twenty-four microbial isolates were identified as bacteria, fungi and yeast. The most frequently isolated bacteria identifiedwas Proteus sp. 8(19.3%) and Micrococcus sp. followed by Staphylococcus aureus 6(14.4%) and Pseudomonas sp. 3(7.1%). The most frequently isolated fungi was Penicillium oxalicum15(36.1%) followed by Aspergillus tamarii 13(31%),Saccharomyces sp. 9(21.9%), Penicillium grey9(21.6%), Aspergillus flavus9(21.3%),Aspergillus niger7(16.7%), Mucor sp. 6(21.9%), Cryptomonas neoformis 5(12.5%), Aspergillus yellow 5(12%), Penicillium italicum4(9.4%), Rhodotorula sp. 3(7.3%), Penicillium orange3(7.3%), Cladosporium sp. 2(4.7%), Penicillium yellow2(4.5%), Penicillium sp. 1(2.6%), Botrytis sp. 1(2.4%), Yeast yellow 1(2.3%)andYeast brown 1(2.3%) respectively. The number of fungi isolates 99(79.8%) was higher than the number of bacteria isolates 25(20.2%) in the prawn samples. The product was below the acceptable standard limit recommended by ICMSF for good quality products and safe for consumption. The results however, revealed that brining, smoke-drying and the addition of spices such as ginger possesses anti-microbial compounds and are efficient in greatly reducing the microbial load in prawns.
