An Appraisal of Fish Processing and Handling in Yola North Local Government Area of Adamawa State the Question of Appropriate Technology

Abstract

This study was carried out to ascertain the effectiveness of adopting sun-drying as an appropriate technology for the production of sun-dried fish. Field survey, processing operation and laboratory analyses were the research methods used. The field survey consisted of oral interviews and personal observations. The processing operation similar to the local processing technique but with some modifications. Laboratory analyses were carried out on both the locally processed and the “modified” processed fish. The analysis includes moisture content, microbial load, protein and fat contents, sensory evaluation and Thiobarbituric acid values. The personal observation from field survey showed that little or nor regards is given to the hygiene of the fish during processing and this resulted in the poor quality of the fish product. Low moisture content of between 4.5 – 6% was attained for the fish products within four days of drying, while 15%, 15.9% and 15.86% were obtained for the market samples. Washing, scaling, gutting and salting were observed to affect the microbial load of the fish samples. The microbial load (cfu) of 1.3 x 10⁵, 5 x 10⁴ and 1.2 x 10⁵ were observed for the market samples, while 1 x 10³, 3 x 10³ and 9 x 10³ was obtained for modified processed samples. Thiobabituric acid value of A528nm gave 1.482, 1.76 and 0.936 for market samples, while 0.70, 0.78 and 0.858 were obtained for modified processed samples. Sensory evaluation using Hedonic rating on a 7 point scale, the values of 4.17, 3.11 and 2.11 were obtained for market samples and 6.61, 5.61 and 5.28 for modified processed sample.