Survey of the Microbial Quality of Dry Fish, Cassava and Okra in Ghana

Abstract

A microbial profile of dry foods in Ghana including smoke dried herrings, salt dried tilapia, salt dried trigger fish, gari, kokonte and okra was evaluated. Okra had the highest aerobic count of 42 × 106, followed by kokone 16–20 × 104, smoke dried herrings 0.2–4 × 104, salt dried tilapia 3–4 × 103, salt dried trigger fish 3– 44 × 102 and gari 3–34 × 102. Anaerobic count was low for all the samples except smoke dried herrings 7–9.5 × 102. Differences in mold count was not evident ranging from 2 × 102 to 39 × 103 for all samples. Aspergillus and Penicillium were the predominant molds. Coliform count was low for salt dried fish and gari, but higher for smoke dried herrings 2–25 × 102, kokonte 11–29 × 102 and okra 31 – 47 × 102.