MICROBIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF FRESHWATER PRAWN (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) IN STORAGE

Abstract

The chemical composition and microbial burden of freshwater prawn was determined at different storage temperatures (00C, 4±10C, and 28±20C) for 5 days using standard microbiological techniques. Microbial isolates found in freshwater prawn samples include: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus spp., Proteus mirabilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp. and Aspergillus flavus. The proximate analysis of carbohydrate, protein, fat, fibre and ash content were 29.18%, 59.64%, 2.10%, 5.11% and 3.47% respectively for fresh samples. After 5 days of storage at 28±20C, the carbohydrate content increased to 60.21% and the Protein content decreased to 29.97%. The pH at 00C increased from 7.50 to 8.56 and from 7.75 to 8.72 at 4±10C over the 10-day storage period. Microbial burden of freshwater prawn sample stored at 28±20C had the highest increase, from 3.8 log10CFU/g on fresh sample to 8.1Log10CFU/g after 2 days. The organism Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis and Escherichia coli had the highest occurrence (100%) while Salmonella spp. had the least occurrence (33.3%). The public health implications of these organisms are discussed