Determination Of Levels Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons On Singed Cowhide (Ponmo) And Charcoal Grilled Meat (Suya):- Nwaoha, kelechi .B

ABSTRACT

Smoking and grilling when carried out with traditional methods involving direct contact with wood combustion fumes, is responsible for high contamination levels of polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons(PAHs). The aim of this work was to determine the PAHs content of different smoked singed cowhides and charcoal grilled meat (suya) product commonly comsumed in Nigeria. A rapid method involving oven drying and simultaneous extraction using soxhlet extractor and dichloromethane (DCM) as solvent and gas chromatography(flame ionization detection) was employed. Samples that was grilled using charcoal(suya) were contaminated with naphthalene (9260pg/kg), acenaphthylene (9920pg/kg), and flourene (25656pg/kg). The Ten (10) PAHs found in the singed cowhides were however, below instrument detection limit as a result of washing because in charcoal grilled meat (suya) sample washing were not employed after grilling