Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology

| Peer-Reviewed |

Microbial Quality of Traditionally Dried Fish Products from Selected Parts of Ethiopia

Received: 18 January 2021    Accepted: 07 February 2021    Published: 04 March 2021
Views:       Downloads:

Share This Article

Abstract

Dried fish is a rich source of protein, lipid and minerals that can serve as a promising source of nutrients to alleviate malnutrition in low-income countries. Nowadays, fish drying is becoming an increasing practice to extend the shelf life of excess catch in areas where other preservation mechanisms such as cold storage are scarce. However, since the drying is often performed in a rural setting with poor hygienic conditions, the microbial quality of such products is uncertain. This study was conducted to evaluate the microbial quality of traditionally dried fish products from sites around the lakes of Tana, Ziway and Chamo, where fish drying is commonly practiced in Ethiopia. Eighteen composite samples were analyzed to determine the microbial load and water activity. High microbial load was recorded in most of the dried fish samples as indicated by total viable count (105 to 107 cfu/g); lactic acid bacteria (901 to 108 cfu/g); total coliforms (<10 to 104 cfu/g), and yeast and molds (103 to 105 cfu/g). The water activity value of all the dried fish samples was below 0.80, indicating the adequacy of the drying since the growth of pathogenic bacteria is not expected at a water activity below 0.86. However, a lack of hygiene during processing and handling was generally noticed. Hygienic processing and process standardization are required to improve the microbial quality of the dried fish.

DOI 10.11648/j.fem.20210701.11
Published in Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology (Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021)
Page(s) 1-5
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Dried Fish, Microorganisms, Water Activity, Contamination

References
[1] Dewey, K. G., & Brown, K. H. (2003). Update on technical issues concerning complementary feeding of young children in developing countries and implications for intervention programs. Food and nutrition bulletin, 24 (1), 5-28.
[2] Khan, M. A. A. and Khan, Y. S. A. 2001. Insect infestation and preventive measures in dry fish storage of Chittagong, Bangladesh. International Journal of Biological Sciences 1: 963-965.
[3] Musa, U., Hati, S. S., Adamu, Y. I. and Mustapha, A. 2010. Pesticides residues in smoked fish samples from North-Eastern Nigeria. Journal of Applied Sciences 10: 975-980.
[4] Dewi, R. S., Nurul Huda, G. and Ahmad, R. 2011. Changes in the physicochemical properties, microstructure and sensory characteristics of shark dendeng using different drying methods. American Journal of food Technology 6: 149-157.
[5] FAO, 1982. Reference Manual to codes of practices for fish and fishery products. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome.
[6] APHA, 1992. Compendium of methods for the microbiological Examination of foods, 3rd ed., C. Vander dent, and splittstoesser, D, (Eds), APHA, Washington Dc 2: 1264 pp.
[7] Wehr, H. M., Frank, J. F., & American Public Health Association (Eds.). (2004). Standard methods for the examination of dairy products (pp. 327-404). Washington, DC: American Public Health Association.
[8] HC, S., RAI, A. K., PM, H. & NM, S. 2011. Isolation and characterization of potential lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from freshwater fish processing wastes for application in fermentative utilisation of fish processing waste. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, 42: 1516-1525.
[9] Huque, R., Islam, M. & Khatun, A. 2013. Microbiological quality improvement of dried fish by gamma irradiation and assessment of food value upon irradiation with respect to biochemical aspect. International Research Journal of Pharmaceutical and Applied Sciences, 3: 1-5.
[10] Bassal, A.; asseur, J. (1992) Measurement of water activity at high temperature. In: Proceedings International Drying Symposium. A. S. Mujumdar (ed.). Elsevier SciencePublishers B. V. 313-321.
[11] Immaculate, K., Sinduja, P., Velammal, A., & Patterson, J. (2013). Quality and shelf-life status of salted and sun-dried fishes of Tuticorin fishing villages in different seasons. International Food Research Journal, 20 (4).
[12] Surendran, P., Nirmala Thampuran, K. V., Narayanannambiar, and Lalitha, K. V. 2006. Laboratory manual on microbiological examination of seafood, CIFT, Cochin, 2nd edn.
[13] Sivashanthini, K, Vivekshan, S, Reval and A. C. Thavaranjit, 2012. Comparative Study on Organoleptic, Microbiological and Biochemical Qualities of Commercially and Experimentally Prepared Salted and Sun Dried Talang Queen Fish, Scomberoides commersonianus. Asian Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 7: 1279-1289.
[14] Sri Lanka Standards 2007. Specification for dried fish, SLS 643: 2007, Sri Lanka Standards Institution, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
[15] Gram, L., & Huss, H. H. (1996). Microbiological spoilage of fish and fish products. International journal of food microbiology, 33 (1), 121-137.
[16] Shafiur Rahman, M., & Labuza, T. P. (2007). Water activity and food preservation. Handbook of food preservation–2nd edition, edited by M. Shafiur Rahman, CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton.
[17] FDA, (2012). Handbook of foodborne pathogenic microorganisms and natural toxins. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
[18] Nguyen, M. V., Arason, S., & Eikevik, T. M. (2014). Drying of fish. Seafood processing: Technology, quality and safety, 161-175.
[19] Tapia, M. S., Alzamora, S. M., & Chirife, J. (2020). Effects of water activity (aw) on microbial stability as a hurdle in food preservation. Water activity in foods: Fundamentals and applications, 323-355.
Author Information
  • Food Science and Nutrition Research, National Fishery and Aquatic Life Research Center, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Sebeta, Ethiopia

  • Food Science and Nutrition Research, National Fishery and Aquatic Life Research Center, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Sebeta, Ethiopia

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Bezuayehu Gutema, Fikadu Hailemichael. (2021). Microbial Quality of Traditionally Dried Fish Products from Selected Parts of Ethiopia. Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology, 7(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.fem.20210701.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Bezuayehu Gutema; Fikadu Hailemichael. Microbial Quality of Traditionally Dried Fish Products from Selected Parts of Ethiopia. Front. Environ. Microbiol. 2021, 7(1), 1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.fem.20210701.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Bezuayehu Gutema, Fikadu Hailemichael. Microbial Quality of Traditionally Dried Fish Products from Selected Parts of Ethiopia. Front Environ Microbiol. 2021;7(1):1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.fem.20210701.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.fem.20210701.11,
      author = {Bezuayehu Gutema and Fikadu Hailemichael},
      title = {Microbial Quality of Traditionally Dried Fish Products from Selected Parts of Ethiopia},
      journal = {Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology},
      volume = {7},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-5},
      doi = {10.11648/j.fem.20210701.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.fem.20210701.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.fem.20210701.11},
      abstract = {Dried fish is a rich source of protein, lipid and minerals that can serve as a promising source of nutrients to alleviate malnutrition in low-income countries. Nowadays, fish drying is becoming an increasing practice to extend the shelf life of excess catch in areas where other preservation mechanisms such as cold storage are scarce. However, since the drying is often performed in a rural setting with poor hygienic conditions, the microbial quality of such products is uncertain. This study was conducted to evaluate the microbial quality of traditionally dried fish products from sites around the lakes of Tana, Ziway and Chamo, where fish drying is commonly practiced in Ethiopia. Eighteen composite samples were analyzed to determine the microbial load and water activity. High microbial load was recorded in most of the dried fish samples as indicated by total viable count (105 to 107 cfu/g); lactic acid bacteria (901 to 108 cfu/g); total coliforms (4 cfu/g), and yeast and molds (103 to 105 cfu/g). The water activity value of all the dried fish samples was below 0.80, indicating the adequacy of the drying since the growth of pathogenic bacteria is not expected at a water activity below 0.86. However, a lack of hygiene during processing and handling was generally noticed. Hygienic processing and process standardization are required to improve the microbial quality of the dried fish.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Microbial Quality of Traditionally Dried Fish Products from Selected Parts of Ethiopia
    AU  - Bezuayehu Gutema
    AU  - Fikadu Hailemichael
    Y1  - 2021/03/04
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.fem.20210701.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.fem.20210701.11
    T2  - Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology
    JF  - Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology
    JO  - Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology
    SP  - 1
    EP  - 5
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2469-8067
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.fem.20210701.11
    AB  - Dried fish is a rich source of protein, lipid and minerals that can serve as a promising source of nutrients to alleviate malnutrition in low-income countries. Nowadays, fish drying is becoming an increasing practice to extend the shelf life of excess catch in areas where other preservation mechanisms such as cold storage are scarce. However, since the drying is often performed in a rural setting with poor hygienic conditions, the microbial quality of such products is uncertain. This study was conducted to evaluate the microbial quality of traditionally dried fish products from sites around the lakes of Tana, Ziway and Chamo, where fish drying is commonly practiced in Ethiopia. Eighteen composite samples were analyzed to determine the microbial load and water activity. High microbial load was recorded in most of the dried fish samples as indicated by total viable count (105 to 107 cfu/g); lactic acid bacteria (901 to 108 cfu/g); total coliforms (4 cfu/g), and yeast and molds (103 to 105 cfu/g). The water activity value of all the dried fish samples was below 0.80, indicating the adequacy of the drying since the growth of pathogenic bacteria is not expected at a water activity below 0.86. However, a lack of hygiene during processing and handling was generally noticed. Hygienic processing and process standardization are required to improve the microbial quality of the dried fish.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

  • Sections