Abstract:
Clarias lazera (garmout) fish was selected for this study and smoked with
different types of sawdust (mosky (Pinus strobus), talh (Acacia seyal), mesquite
(Prosopis chilensis)) to evaluate the microbial safety, nutritional value and
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general acceptability of smoked fish to assess its shelf life under refrigeration
storage for four weeks. Twenty kgs of Clarias Lazera fish were used. Fish
samples were carefully handled throughout the preparation process; they were
cleaned up, eviscerated and divided into four portions, one portion kept without
treatments (control), the rest three samples were immersed in 10% salted
solution, washed with tab water to remove salt traces then dried for one hour
under direct fan to release the liquids inside the fish. After that, the three
samples were smoked with different sawdust as follows: one portion smoked
with (mosky) sawdust, the second portion smoked with (talh) sawdust and the
third portion smoked with (mesquite) sawdust for two hours and each packed
under vacuum in polyethylene and stored under refrigeration for four weeks.
Proximate analysis including (moisture %, ash %, fat % and protein %) were
carried out before and after smoking process. Total bacterial count, Salmonella
spp., Staphylococcus spp., Coliform bacteria and Yeasts and Moulds were
checked before smoking and every week during the refrigeration storage for
four weeks. Sensory evaluations were also done after smoking process. The
results of the study revealed that there is a significant difference in moisture,
protein and fat content among the different studied smoked samples. Moisture
and ash tend to decreased after smoking process while protein and fat contents
increased after smoking. Smoking with different types of sawdust completely
eliminated Salmonella and coliform bacteria. During the refrigeration storage
detected species were within the acceptable limits for fish, while some
.increments occurred after storage
Sensory evaluation indicated the acceptability of consumers for the smoked
products, and smoked fish with (mesquite) sawdust were the top of preference
.followed by samples smoked with (talh) and (mosky) sawdust
