Nutritional Assessment and Microbial Safety of Croaker (Micropogonias Undulatus) Fish from Three Frozen Food Centers in Afikpo, Ebonyi State Nigeria
Abstract
Microbial activity on food leads to its spoilage. This is usually by enzymatic processes that bring about lost of nutrients experienced on decaying food. Food decay, affect virtually all classes of nutrients in food especially, the organic aspect with proteins and lipids being the most. This study aimed at determinig the nutritional assessment and microbial safety of croaker fish from different frozen food centers. The nutritional assessment was determined through proximate analysis by standard method of AOAC and microbial safety by aerobic count, proteolytic and lipolytic count method using approprioate media. The results for proximate analysis showed moisture (62.38, 62.58 & 64.03), protein (23. 09, 23.40 & 22.98), lipid (10.21, 10.31 & 10.25), ash (1.11, 1.12 & 1.13) and carbohydrate (2.51, 2.65 & 1.61) for center A, B & C respectively. The mean values for aerobic plate count, proteolytic, and lipolytic counts were 7.30+0.18, 4.00+0.03, and 2.00+0.06, respectively, for center A, 6.31±0.29, 3.85±0.07, 2.61±0.01 for center B,and 7.70±0.82, 4.20±0.29, 2.82±0.13 for center Call in ×10³ CFU/ml. The presence of salmonella sp and straphylococcus were confirmed. These finding however, suggest contamination with aerobes with both proteolytic and lipolytic activities and particularly with pathogenic salmonella and straphylocaccus which could endanger the health of people upon their consumption.
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Introduction
Fish has been considered an indisputable source of animal protein available in the tropics and is widely accepted as a good quality source of protein and other nutrients for the maintenance of good health (Andrew, 2001). The ldeveloping countries capture 50℅ of the world'sharvest, with a large proportion of the catch consumed internally. In many Asian countries, over 50℅ of animal protein intake comes from fish. Methods of preservation and storage are the major factors affecting the rate of loss of quality and shelf life of fish. However, its effects bordered on the nutrient quality and safeness upon consumption (Ewo 2019).
World consumption offish per capita increased in developing regions from 5.2kg in 1961 to 18.8kg in 2013, while in the least developed countries with deficits increased from 3.5kg to 7.6kg in the same period. Hence, fish account for about 17℅ of the intake of animal protein by the world population (FAO, 2016). Fish is known for its high nutritional value, and the chemical composition offish regarding other food is unique (Simopolous, 2002). Fish tissue is the main source of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially omega-3 and omega-6. These fatty acids have particular importance in fish since their consumption contributes to the reduction of the appearance of cardiovascular diseases (Turkmen, Aro, Nurimi, and Kailio, 2005) and the improvement of learning ability. Fish also contains a high-quality protein with all essential amino acids, being a source of dietary minerals such as calcium, iodine, or selenium and providing an important amount of polyunsaturated fatty acid (Araujo, Soares, and Gois, 2010). Pelagic species, usually smaller ones such as sardines, are generally rich in omega-3 fatty acids, mainly eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (Pestana, 2007).
Fish is avery perishable food, being highly susceptible to oxidation and microbiological deterioration. Therefore, efficient storage strategies need to be employed in order to increase its shelf-life and guarantee its safety and quality from catch to consumption. This shelf life offish is dependent on several factors, such as storage time, temperature, fish species, the stress suffered during the catch, and the amount of ice (Mahmud, Abraha, Samuel, Mohammedidris, and Abraham, 2018). Therefore, these preservation methods need to be optimized to increase fish shelf life to guarantee its quality and safety, with consequent satisfaction of consumer requirements, reduction of economic losses from fishing industries, and food waste. This optimization can involve the effect of freeze/chill temperature and time, thawing, fish preparation, and bleeding condition (Rong, Ruchuan, Huihui, and Qi, 2020; Nguyen and Phan, 2018)
Fish contaminants are of great concern for export earnings because of their high nutritive value, such as high protein content with little or no carbohydrate and fat value. However, fish may be contaminated at various stages of transport, handling, and processing. This contamination may be related to the raw materials, personnel, and processing tools, such as forklifts, through leakage, insects, and pest harbourage. Additionally, seafood can become contaminated during storage and processing. Contamination may be caused by foodborne pathogens that are naturally present in aquatic environments, such as vibrio spp, or derived from sewage-contaminated water, such as salmonella app (Gnanambal and Patterson, 2005). Consumption of these contaminated fish may cause infection or intoxication to the consumer.
The contaminant offish is one of the leading causes of foodborne diseases or gastroenteritis, characterized by diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, nausea, and fever. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, salmonella is the leading cause of bacterial foodborne illness, causing approximately 1.4 million non-typhoidal illnesses, 15000 hospitalizations, and 400 deaths in the USA annually (Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2011). Water and ice quality is also an important factor for quality fish because water and ice used for fish processing may contaminate the whole processing plant. So, it is important to find out the quality offish we consume as well as the frozen fish that are exported (Andrew and Hammack, 2001).
This study, therefore, aimed to assess the nutritional value and microbial safety of frozen croaker fish from three different frozen centers in Afikpo Ebonyi State, Nigeria, in order to assess their microbial wholesomeness. The specific objective of the study includes the determination of the nutritional value and microbial safety and comparing the various outcomes of frozen croaker fish obtained from three different frozen centers.
