The Characterization of Fungi Associated with Stale Smoked Crayfish and Prawns Vended in Ilaro Town

Abstract

Due to their outstanding nutritional values, high protein contents and low prices, aquatic commodities have lately witnessed one of the quickest rates of development in the global agriculture sector. One meal that is used as a source of protein by persons with high and low incomes is crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus). Smoked dried crayfish and prawns were purchased from three different markets; Sayedero, Sabo and Orita for analyses. This research work revealed the contamination of the sampled stale smoked crayfish and prawns with fungi, with the fungal load ranges of 3.00 x 10⁵ – 12.30 x 10⁵ cfu/g and 6.66 x 10⁵ – 7.33 x 10⁵ cfu/g respectively. The fungi isolated from the stale smoked fish are Fusarium oxysporum (33.33 %), Aspergillus niger (33.33 %), Rhizopus nigricans (16.67%) and Aspergillus fumigatus (16.67 %) while the fungi isolated from the stale smoked prawns are Fusarium oxysporum (42.86 %), Aspergillus niger (28.57 %) and Rhizopus nigricans (28.57 %). The fungal load is highest in the smoked crayfish and prawn samples gotten from Orita market, as compared with the ones from the other two marketing sites. This study concludes that the presence of fungal contaminants might be attributable to poor or inadequate storage condition which, perhaps, was favourable for fungal proliferation. Prolonged and unsanitary storage can lead to contamination with fungi which could cause the development of food-borne fungal diseases when consumed especially in immuno-compromised individuals. Proper crayfish and prawn handling, processing and storage should be encouraged and adopted. Crayfish and prawns should not be kept unhygienically or for too long before consumption.