Assessment of bacterial on some cold-smoked fish in five markets in Ado-Odo Lga, Ogun State

Abstract

Cold-smoked Scromber sp., Trachurus sp., Gadus sp. and Clupea sp. were examined for the presence of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Retailed samples of the cold-smoked fishes were obtained from five major Markets; Ota, Sango, Oju-ore, Atan and Lusaida. The samples were analyzed for Total Plate Count (TPC) for bacteria and fungi; Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp. and Coliforms count respectively. The variations in the microbial loads of the analyzed smoked fishes were relatively significant. Trachurus sp. recorded a very high TPCbacteria in Atan market at 13.1 x 10⁴ cfu/g. Staphylococcus aureus count of smoked fish samples was nil (0) in Scromber sp. (Ota), Trachurus sp. (Sango and Atan), Gadus sp. (Atan) and highest in Trachurus sp. (Ota) at 4.3 x10⁴ cfu/g. The Escherichia sp. count was highest in Trachurus sp. (Lusaida) and Gadus sp. (Oju-ore) at 5.3 x10¹ cfu/g while Salmonella sp. count was nil (0) in Scromber sp. (Oju-ore), Gadus sp. (Ota, Sango and Lusaida) and Clupea sp. (Ota and Sango). Coliforms count was higher in Trachurus sp. (Ota) 5.9 MPN/g. However, by the recommended standards, all the analyses smoked fish in the study area were safe for human consumption.