Microbial load of farm-reared Macrobrachium vollenhovenii (Herklots, 1857) and the health implications

Abstract

Abayomi Jimoh, Earnest Okhiria, Rasaq Olowu, Olusegun Whenu

Cultured prawns are more prone to pathogenic aquatic microorganisms than the wild-captured prawns. Therefore, estimation of bacterial load in prawns has been variously used to ascertain the safety of the prawns for consumption. Samples of Macrobrachium vollenhovenii were analyzed for total viable bacterial count (TVC), total coliform count (TCC), total clostridia count (TCLC) and total SalmonellaShigella count (TSS). Sampling was done weekly for four consecutive weeks. Water quality parameters were within recommended range for growth of prawns. Mean TVC of prawns from Badore was 2.10 ± 0.28 x 106 while values for Badagry and Epe were 1.95 ± 0.24 x 106 and 2.05 ± 0.39 x 106 respectively. The TCC were 1.45 ± 0.06 x 103 , 1.40 ± 0.19 x 103 and 1.68 ± 0.19 x 103 for Badore, Badagry and Epe respectively. The TCLC were 0.65 ± 0.72 x 102 (Badore), 0.57 ± 0.61 x 102 (Badagry) and 0.43 ± 0.67 x 102 (Epe), and corresponding TSS values were 1.42 ± 0.28 x 102 , 0.90 ± 0.72 x 102 and 1.17 ± 0.91 x 102 . Mean TVC, TCC, TCLC and TSS were above ICMSF maximum acceptable limits. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp and Shigella sp were isolated from all the samples. This result infers that the prawns are contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms and could serve as points of transmission of infection to consumers. Proper hygienic and sanitary conditions should be maintained.