Microbial Quality Of Smoked Tilapia And Mackerel Fish Sold In Umudike

ABSTRACT

A study was conducted on microbial quality of smoked tilapia and mackerel sold in Umudike. A total of twenty samples were bought from the markets. These were analyzed microbiologically for total heterotrophic bacteria and fungi on Nutrient and Saboroud dextrose agar respectively using spread plate method. The mean viable results from the analysis showed high microbial contamination in all the samples. The mean result of viable heterotrophic bacteria and fungi counts showed no significant differences (p>O.OS). Isolated microorganisms include: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus sp, Pseudoinonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus sp, Escherichia. coli, Aspergillus .sp, Penciturn 5p, and Fusariurn .sp. This result of this work has proven that bacteria and fungi are responsible for the contamination of smoked fish. Most of the isolated organisms are probably contaminants after the smoking operation and they are mostly spoilage organisms.