Physicochemical and Microbiological Qualities of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Sauce Produced by Salt Fermentation

Abstract

Abstract

Fish sauce was made from African catfish, Clarias gariepinus with the objectives of determining it suitability for sauce production and standard operating procedure which can support good manufacturing practice (GMP). Whole African catfish were washed, minced, mixed with 20% (w/w) salt and incubated in air-tight sterilized plastic containers at room temperature for six months. Thereafter, the mixture was manually drained using muslin cloth pore size 2mm to separate the supernatant liquor, the fish sauce.The sauce had moisture range of 57.49 -68.25%, protein 11.35%- 24.29%, lipid 2.53% - 6.87%, ash content 2.87% - 7.42%, crude fibre 1.53-9.36%. There were significant differences (p<0.05) between the weekly values ofthe proximate composition.The pH valuesranged between 5.6 and 8.4. Four strains of gram-positive bacteria namely Bacillus spp, Micrococcus luteus, Clostridium perfringens and Staphylococcus epididermis and a fungus Candida albicans were isolated from the sauce. The study showed that the African catfish is a safe and nutritious potential material for utilization in sauce production and that the procedure used complied with GMP.