TITLE:
Microbial Safety of Dried Fish Meat (Kejeik) Produced in Sudan
AUTHORS:
Abdel Moneim E. Sulieman, Zahra M. A. Hassan, Elamin A. Elkhalifa
KEYWORDS:
Kejeik; Microbiological Analysis; Coliform; Escherichia coli; Gram Staining
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.5 No.7,
March
24,
2014
ABSTRACT: The present study aimed to estimate the microbiological characteristics as
well as the safety of traditionally fermented fish product, Kejeik. Kejeik samples were collected
from Singah city (Blue Nile) and Kusti city (White Nile), Sudan. These samples were
previously prepared from Ijl, Nawk and Garmut fish types. The microbiological analyses indicated that Kejeik products were devoid of any harmful bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7. The
highest count of aerobic bacteria was found in Singa ijl Kejeik (SIK) which was 7.6 × 104 cfu/gm. The Enterbacteriaceae isolated from Kejeik samples were
identified as Enterobacter cloacae, and their counts in Kejeik prepared from Ijil, Nawk and Garmut fish were 1.09 × 104, 0.93 × 105 and 3.5 × 104 cfu/gm, respectively. On the other hand, the counts
of aerobic bacteria in Kejeik prepared from Ijl, Nawk and Garmut were 7.2
× 105, 4.1 × 105 and 3.4 × 105 cfu/gm, respectively. The higher aerobic bacterial load
of the various Kejeik samples could be due to improper handling and sanitary
condition during the preparation and their
moisture contents. The Bacillus isolated from Kejeik samples were identified as Bacillus cereus, and the counts of it in Kejeik prepared from Ijl,
Nawk and Garmut were 5 × 105, 2.3 × 104 and 1.0 × 104 cfu/gm, respectively. The fungi isolated from Kejeik samples were identified as Aspergillus niger, Alternaria, and Penicillium.
However, fungi counts in Ijl Kejeik, Nawk Kejeik and Garmut Kejeik were 1.6 × 104,
1.6 × 104 and 1.2 × 104 cfu/gm, respectively. The yeast isolated was identified as Rhodotorula and Cryptococcus laureate,
and their counts in Ijl Kejeik and Nawk Kejeik were 0.9 × 104 and 0.9
× 104 cfu/gm, respectively. The halophlic bacteria found in Kejeik samples could be identified
as Kocuria rosea and Streptococcus dysgalactiae.