Processes for preserving and processing fish: Characterization and impact on microbiological quality in Lokossa, South-West Benin

The sanitary condition of consumers is comparable to the microbiological condition of fish. This study aimed at defining processing and preservation methods and determining their effect on the sanitary condition of fish in the Lokossa township. 27 processors were interviewed. 60 whole, pre-processed, smoked and fried samples of S. melanotheron and C. guineensis were taken. The identified processes were smoking (33%), frying (85.19%) and salting-drying (3.70%). All the processing operations began with trimming (scaling, gutting and cutting), drying and salting. Both species had similar microbial counts (p > 0.05) for total coliforms, faecal coliforms, S. aureus and C. perfringens, regardless of processing (whole, pre-processed, fried or smoked). FMAT counts and enterobacteria in S. melanotheron were significantly different between types of processing (p < 0.05). For C. guineensis, enterobacteria loads varied among pre-treated and whole fish, and smoked and fried fish. E. coli occurred in all samples, and 16.67% of the samples had Salmonella regardless of species. Minimizes the bacteriological load of the fish by smoking and frying under sanitary conditions.