Assessment of Quality and Safety of Street-vended Fried West African Ilisha (<i>Ilisha africana</i>) from Major Markets in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the quality and safety of street-vended fried  West African ilisha (Ilisha africana) from major markets in Ibadan, Oyo State,  Nigeria. A total number of 100 fried fish samples obtained from ten major markets in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria were analysed in the laboratory for: proximate (moisture, protein, fat, fibre and ash), quality indices (peroxide value PV, thiobarbituric acid  TBA, total volatile base-nitrogen TVB-N, trimethylamine acid TMA and free fatty  acid (FFA), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), heavy metals and   microbiological (Coliform, Fungi, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella paratyphi and Staphylococcus aureus) analyses. The results revealed that the mean moisture,  protein, fat, crude fibre, ash and carbohydrate contents (%) of fried fish samples  ranged from 14.81 – 16.76, 57.18 – 60.89, 9.89 – 11.87, 1.16 – 1.97, 2.15 –  3.65 and 7.25 – 11.32, respectively. The values of PV (meq.peroxide/kg), TBA (mg Mol/kg), TVB-N (mgN/kg), TMA (mgN/kg) and FFA (%) were in the range of 6.11 – 8.91, 1.98 – 2.94, 1.73 – 2.91, 14.89 – 17.79 and 1.98 – 2.89 respectively. The results also revealed the presence of sixteen PAHs compounds in the fried fish  samples. However, six of the sixteen PAHs compounds were above the 5.0 μg /kg B(α)P maximum permissible levels set by stipulated EU Regulation 1881/2006. The concentrations (μg/g) of Hg, Pb, Cd, and Cr in the fried fish samples were in the  range of 0.0013 – 0.0028, 0.0013 – 0.0024, 0.0014 – 0.0023 and 0.0571 – 0.0743 respectively and these are below WHO recommended values.

Keywords: Fried fish, street-vended, quality, safety, PAHs, heavy metals.