Asian Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

The study was carried out in the bacteriology evaluation of smoked fish sold in Awka was evaluated. Five (5) samples, each of smoked fish of average size, were purchased from five different major markets. The degree of fish sanitation was evaluated through visual observation of the cleanliness of the sale’s environment, the vendor and the product. The fish samples were transported to the laboratory using sterile plastic bags with each smoked fish packed individually and stored in a refrigerator prior to analysis. A ten-fold serial dilution was made using Ig of different portion of each smoked fish mashed together to give a representative sample. Pour plate method was carried out and the plates incubated for 24hours at 37°C. After 24hours, the plate count and biochemical characterization of bacteria were carried out. Organisms isolated include Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coIi and Bacillus spp. From this study, two market, Ifite awka market was identified to have the highest viable count of microorganisms showing a total viable count of 3.72 x 10⁷cfg while smoked fish from Nkwo Amaenyi has the lowest viable count of microorganisms showing a total viable count of 0,68 x 10⁷cfg. The higher microbial load may be as a result of contaminations by the surrounding microorganisms from the environment br=efore and after cmiking process and also in the consistent of the smoking process. To reduce this occurrence of high microbial growth in smoked fish, education of fish processors and the general public on good fish handling should be carried out.