Fishery Technology 1994, Vol. 31(1) pp: 75-78 Chemical and Microbiological Quality of Dry Fish from Kakinada MM. Prasad, C.C, Panduranga Rao and 8.3. Gupta Kakinada Research Centre of Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kakinada - 533 003, india Chemical ane microbiological qualities of 73 samples of dry fish from local markets wete studied. In most ofthe samples, moisture content was found tobe higher and salt content lower as compared with ISI specifications for cured dried fish. Potential pathogens, Escherichia cali and coaguiase positive staphylococci, were isolated from some of the simples. Salt curing and drying are traditional methods of utilisation of fish and play anim- portant role in the socio-economic system of small scale fishermen. Utilisation of fish in cured /dried form in this country ranks next only to fresh fish and hence dry fish has received much attention of research workers {Rao et al., 1962; Sreenivasan & Joseph, 1966, Kalaimani et al., 1988). Information on the quality of cured /dried fish in this region has been scanty and hence the present study was undertaken, Materials and Methods Seventy five samples of cured/dried fish belonging to 24 varieties, collected from the local fish markets were employed in this study. Total bacterial counts and coliform counts of the samples were determined ac- cording to the method of Thatcher & Clark (1978). Faecal streptococci and Escherichia coli insamples were determined employing the methods described by Speck (1976). Staphylococcus aureus counts in the samples were determined by employing the method of Bennett (1984). Moisture content and salt were estimated as per AOAC (1980) methods and Total Volatile Nitrogen (TVN) according tothe method of Conway (1947), Allsamples analyses were done in triplicate. Results and Discussion Moisture, salt and TVN content of the dry fish samples in the present study are presented in Table 1. Dried mackerel and sciaenid samples were found to contain: more moisture and less salt as compared to ISI standards (1S: 4302, 1967; IS: 3850, 1973). In respect of seer fish, moisture content was nearly the same as required in ISI specifica- tions, but salt content was less (1S:5198, 1969) Anchovies contained higher moisture and salt than ISI specifications IS: 2883, 1976), A perusal of Table 2 shows that as many as 88 percent of the samples posessed. less than 20 percent salt which agrees with previous reports (Joseph et al., 1986; Basu et al,, 1989), Similarly, 32.4 percent of the dry fish samples in the present study were found to possess moisture level of less than 40 per- cent, The majority of the dried fish samples available in the local market contained more than 40 percent moisture and less than 20 percent salt. Non acceptability of the products due to lower salt and higher mois- ture levels was discussed by Poulter (1980). The lowest and highest levels of total volatile nitrogen (TVN) observed were 66.5 and 244.0 mg% of the muscle in spotted croaker and flat headed grey mullet respec- tively (Table 1). Basu et al. (1989) have reported a lowest TVN value of 89.7 mg% of muscle in mullets and a highest TVN value of 426.7 mg% in pomfrets during their studies on quality of dry fish from Andhra76 Table 1. Chemical parameters of quality Species No.of Moisture TVN samples mh ‘shen fish 6 (3875 M73 ‘Criciers tated) 8.10 (66.86 43.38) TRL.) SRibivon fish 2 M7 siz eperacat ns sca) (26.42 (121.31 36.99) 128.97) eroaker 8 4375 155.09 ‘Protonibe haces) (B63 (658e 50.00) 229.8%) Dussumior'scroaker 11 A314 188.94 ‘folurws dussumier) (00 (172.87- aera) 20.15) ‘Sctnenicis 1 346 15428 Iodian oil sardine = «3416613895 {Sandinela Jengiceps) (38.0 128.2 46.0) 156.29) Flathead grey mullet 743,32 175.48 (Mag erphalus) 8536 (128.21 47.45) 244-01) Spiegier’s gry mullet 443.61 183.49 Vaan peated 49940. (LoL: 4653) 715.4) Indinnariomma == 2 APS7 6.0 (Araomoa intend 40h 212.0 51.13) 280.0) False trevatty 2 4478 T5895 (acres lacterina) 14035. (158.49 49.20) 178.40) Indian threadfin, = 44193 145.22 (Poles inten) 58 (865 4418) 200.15) Anchovies 5 1682 12.00 (Engrontis spp.) 58% 81S 1829) 154.42) Hamilton'sthyses 1842-71010 (Thryssa hen) Chives pomirer 3379. 15237 (Pampus chinensis) (124 (837 4293 299.13) Banded barracuda = M33 T7R (Sphytnera ella ARAB (13254 4233) 200.00) ndo-Facificspantsh mackerel 4840 130.60 (Scomberomrsguitius) 2 (42.22 (118,18 50.58) 148.01) Narrowbared Spanish | 49.51 150.31 mackerel (Scomberomorns cemnimersor! Anduan halibut 2. 3542 160.69 ‘Psettodes erume) 22.90- (148,07- 3894) 173.31) Greaterliandfish = 143.55. 185, (Sarita tun ‘Tangue sles 1 27 tei (cirapleett rep) 1 4179 u2se iver 1 4051 21538 {Siliago som) PRASAD, RAQ. AND GUPTA. Pradesh. Studies on quality of cured fish from Tamil Nadu coast reported TVN values: ranging from 29.9 to 112.5 mg% (Joseph a | al,, 1986). Though no maximum pe limit has so far been fixed for TVN content of cured fish, studies have suggested a TVN ” value of 200 mg% as the acceptable limit | (Venkataraman ‘& Vasayan, 1959; Sreenivasan & Joseph, 1966) High values of TVN were reported to correlate with high bacterial activity (Vanderzant et al., 1973), In comparison with published stand- ards for dry fish 84 it of the samples were found to possess TVN below 200 mgi. There is need for determination of accept able TVN levels for cured/dry fish since high TVN values denote high spoilage resulting in non acceptability of the product for human consumption (Joseph et al., 1983), The total bacterial counts _( reported in this study ranged from 10° to 1 organisms per gram of the sample (Table a which was observed in the samples of Tamil Nadu coast (Joseph et al., 1986), Maharashtra coast (Joseph ef al, 1988) and Andhra Pradesh coast (Basu et al., 1989) as well. In this study coliforms were present in 17 samples, E. coli in six samples, faecal strep- tococci in five samples and coagulase posi- tive staphylococci in two samples (Table 3). E. coli, faecal streptococei and coagulase | positive staphylococcci were not recovered in the earlier studies (Joseph ef al., 1986; Bast ¢t al, 1989), However Basu ef al., (1989) _ reported the presence of coliforms in 80 per- cent of the dry samples, ‘The present study indicates that most of the dry fish samples obtained from this area do not conform to ISI standards. ‘The authors are thankful to Dr. K. Gopakumir, Director, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin for his kind permission to publish this paper Technical help provided by Mr. B. Ramaish and Mr, N. Venkata Rao during this work is acknowledged here.DRY FISH QUALITY Table 2. —_-Ranige of moisture. salt and TVN in the samples TWN, ‘Moisture, te Salt, % mg Ne Below 30 Wto40 AbovedO — Below 10 10-15 15-20 Above 20 Below 100 100-200 Above 200 Percentage af samples 13.33, 18.66 68 a 32 a R 93 746 Table3, Bacteriological analysis of dry fish samples (count expressed as log efit ¢-1) Name of the fish Tec Coli- E.coli Faecal, ‘Coagu- forms strepto- Jase +ve cocci ‘Staphy- i Trichiverns awnrela 576 430 143 277 NR Lepturdeanthus sacala 425 5.90 NR NR NR Protonibea diacanthus 5.15 3.87 1.57 NR NE Johns dussumieri 6.64 3.64 NR NR 3.80 Sciaenids 3.55 277 NR NR NR Sardinella longiceps 3.90 3.00 3.30 NR NR Mugil cephalus 5.68 3.69 NR 44 2.30 Valamygil speigheri 7.38 307 NR NR NR Rastrelliger kanagurta 353 NR NR NR NR “Ariomma indica 414 3.85 247 NR NR Lactarius lactarins 555 497 NR. 234 NR Polydactylus indicus 455 3.66 NR NR NR q is spp. 3.46 NR NR NR NR Thryssa hamiltonit ND ND ND ND NR Panpus chinensis 4a7 255 NR NR NR Spityraena jello 3.59 NE NR NR NR Scomberomorus guttatus 677 271 NR NR NR Psettodes erumei 3.30 NR NR NR NR Scomiberamorus commerson 5.00 3.90 255 3.84 NR Saurida tumbil 397 277 NR NR NR Cynoglossus sp. 3.53 NR NR NR NR Gamanx sp. 6.90 571 2.60 3.60. NR Sillaga siharvur ND ND ND ND. NR NR = not recovered; ND = not done References AOAC (1980) Official Methods of Analysis, 13th edn., Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington D.C, USA Basu, S., Imam Khasim, D., Gupta, SS. & Panduranga Rao, C.C. (1989) Fish. Technol. 26, 114 Bennet, R.W. (1984) Bacterialogical Analytical Manual 6th edn., Association of Offi- cial Analytical Chemists, Arlington, USA Conway, E.J. (1947) Microdiffusion Analysis and Volumetric Error, Crossby, Lock Wood and Sons, London, UK Francis Thomas & Balachandran, K.K. (1989)in Recent Trends in Processing Low Cost Fish, p.1-10, Society of Fisheries Tech- nologists (India), Cochin. ISI (1967) Indian Standard Specification for Dry Salted Mackerel. 1S: 4302, Indian Stand- ard Institution, New Delhi, India ISI (1969) Indian Standard Specification for Dry Salted Seer Fish, 1S: 5198, Indian Stand- ard Institution, New Delhi, India ISI (1973) Indian Standard specification for Dry Salted Threadfin. (Dara) and Dry Salted Jew Fish (Ghol.). 1S: 3850 Indian Stand- ard Institution, New Delhi, India ISI (1976) Irtdian Standard Specification for Dried White Baits. 1S; 2883, Indian Standard Institution, New Delhi, India Joseph, K.G., Muraleedharan, V. & Nair, T.S.U. (1983) Fish, Technol, 20, 118 Joseph, KG. Muraleedharan, — V., Kalaimani, N. & Naif, T.S.U. (1986) Fish, Technol. 23, 63 ee K.G,, Muraleedharan, V., Nair, & Kalaimani, N. (1988) Fish. Toh tol. 25, 120 PRASAD, RAO AND GUPTA Kalaimani, N., Gopakumar, K. & Nair SU. (1988) Fish, Technol. 25, 54 Muraleedharan, V., Unnithan, G.R., George Joseph, K. & Nair, T.S.U. (1989) Fish. Technol. 26, 30 Poulter (1980) FAO Report No. 219, p22, FAO, Rome Speck, M.L: (1976) Compenditim of Methods for the Microbiological Examination of} Foods, American Public Health As sociation, Washington DC, USA Rao, S.V.S., Valsan, A.P., Kandoran, M.K. & | Nair. M-R. (1962) Indian J. Fish 9(2b), | 156 Srinivasan, R. & Joseph, K.G. (1966) Fish Technol. 3, 103 ‘Thatcher, FS, & Clark, DS. (1978) Microor- anisms in Foods. 2nd edn., University of Toronto Press, Toronte, Canada Venkata Raman, R. & Vasavan, A.G. (1959) Madras Fisheries Station Reports and | Year Book, 1955-56, p.261 Vanderzant, C., Cobb, BF, & Thomson, CA. (Jr.) (1973) J. Milk Food Teelinol. 35, 443Fishery Technology 1994, Vol. 31(1) pp: 79-80 Even though reports on organisms fesembling Listeria date back to the last cen- lury, interestin Listeria monocytogenes in food products has grown only recently following several outbreaks in North America and Europe (Schlech et al., 1983; Fleming et al., 1985; Jameset al., 1985; Bille & Glauser, 1988). All these outbreaks were associated with the consumption of dairy or vegetable products. More recently, the organism was isolated ‘from seafoods also (Weagant et al., 1988). L. monocytogenes is a tough organism. It ‘tesists heat, salt, nitrite and acidity better than many other organisms. No information isavailable on the concentration of chlorine fequired to destroy effectively all the viable “cells of L. monocytogenes present in the water ‘tsed for seafood processing. This informa- ton will be useful to avoid contamination from the process water in seafood process- ‘ing. Studies were, therefore, undertaken in this direction and the results obtained are ‘summarised in this paper. Type culture of L. monocytogenes col- ‘Iected from the US FDA laboratory, New this organism in Trypticase Soy Broth ‘were centrifuged for 15 min at5000 rpm and ‘the liquid was aseptically decanted off. The ‘falleted cells were washed twice in 10 ml Added to 3.1 of sterile tap water and mixed foget a uniform suspension. The exact num- ‘ber of bacterial cells were determined by iirect plating on Oxoid brand Listeria selec agar base (CM 856). Sodium NOTES Survival of Listeria monocytogenes in Water Subjected to Different Levels of Chlorination T.S.G. lyer and P.R.G, Varma Central Institute of Fisheries Technology Cochin - 682 029, India hypochlorite was added to the inoculated water to get 5 & 10 ppm available chlorine and stirred well. Nine hundred ml of water was collected as sample after 3, 5 and 10 min of chlorination. The samples were added to 100 ml each of ten-fold concentrated modified trypticase soy broth. The iden- tification of the organism was as per the method outlined by Lovett (1988). ‘The results obtained are summarised in Table 1. From the results it was seen that chlorination of the process water to a Table 1. Viability of Listeria monocytogenes in water sluring chlorination ‘Treatment Cells/ml Growth affer exposune to different time,min chlorine levels Sppm l0ppm Control nochlotine 3 m000 = + 5 : . * 10 . _ * s 65000 + : + 5 + : * 10 - 2 + 3 298000 + + + 5 + = * 10 + e 3 7.00000 + - + 5 * = + 10 + = ip 3 840,000 + “ + 5 > : + 10 + : +805% residual level of 5 ppm Cz was often insuf- ficient to destroy the viable cells of L. monocytogenes. Similarly it was also evident thatacontact timeof3 min wasnotsufficient for eliminating the pathogen. Even at a con- centration of 10 ppm, a contact time of 3. min proved insufficient when the number of cells exceeded 2x10” numbers. Based upon the study, it is recom- mended thatthe water supply in the process- ing factories should be chlorinated to a residual level of 10 ppm Ch giving a min- imum contact time of 5 min in order to get full protection from L. monocytogenes. ‘The authors are thankful to Shri, MK Sasid- haran, Technician of the Quality Control laboratory for the technical assistance received and to Dr K. Gopakumar, Director, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin for permissionto publish the paper. References Bille, J. & Glauser, M.P. (1988) Listeriose on Suisse, Bulletin de I’ Office Federal de la Sante Publique No. 3 28-29 TYER AND VARMA. Fleming, D.W., Cochin, S.L., MacDonald, KL, Brondum, J, Hayes, PS, Pulikayatis, B.D., Holmes, MB, Audurier, A., Broome, C.V, & Rein gold, A.L. (1985) Eng. J. Med. 312, 404 James, S.M. Fannin, S.L., Agee, B.A., Hall, B. Parker, E., Vogt, J., Run, G., Williams, J. Lieb, L., Salminen, C., Prendergast, ”, Warner, $.B. & Chin, J. (1985) Mor. bidity and Mortality Weekly Report 34, 358 Lovett, J. (1988) JAQAC, 71, 658 Schlech, W.F., Lavigne, P.M. Bortolussi, RA,, Allen, A.C., Haldane, E.V., Wort, AJ., Hightower, A.W., Johnson, SE King, SH, Nicholls, ES. & Broome, GV. (1983) New England J. Med, 308, 203 Weagant, 8.D,, Sado, P.N., Colburn, K.G, Torkleson, J.D., Stanley, F.A., Krane, M.H., Shields, S.C. & Thayer, CE (1988) J. Food Prot. 51, 655