IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIUM Escherichia coli IN PELAGIC AND DEMERSAL FISH BY CULTURE AND POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR) METHODS

Fish is a commodity that easily and quickly decomposes (high perishable food), therefore, since being caught from the sea, it requires fast, clean, careful and cool handling so that when it is distributed or marketed to fish consumers in fresh condition and maintained quality. The large number of pelagic fish and demersal fish exported to foreign countries requires that the exported fish be tested for its content, especially for microbial contamination, one of which is Escherichia coli contamination. The purpose of this study was to identify Escherichia coli bacteria in Pelagic and Demersal fish using culture and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) methods. Identification of E. coli bacteria used two methods, namely the culture method and PCR using the lacZ gene primer. The results showed that the use of culture and PCR testing methods in identifying E. coli bacteria in demersal and pelagic fish showed the same results, namely 7 (47%) positive samples containing E. coli contamination with the same sample code and exceeding the limit for bacterial E contamination. coli according to SNI 2729:2013 regarding fresh fish, namely <3 APM/g.