| en |
Influence of brine treatment,drying methods and storage conditions on the microbial quality of freshwater snail ( Lanistes libycus  ) meat.
Ezeama, C. F.; Keke, E. & Nwachukwu, E.
Abstract
Freshwater snail (Lanistes libycus) meat samples were subjected to four different preservation treatments (ovendried, sun-dried, brined oven-dried, brined sun-dried) and assessed for microbiological quality. The microbial quality of fresh or brine (5 % w/v NaCl) treated samples stored at different temperatures (35, 28, 4, -7 °C) were also investigated. Combining brine treatment with either ovendrying or sun-drying resulted in significant (p = 0.05) decrease in total viable counts (TVCs) of the meat with that of brined oven-dried samples being more pronounced (log10 3.92 cfu g-1) by day 4 of ambient storage. Sun-drying alone could not effectively preserve the meat beyond 2 days. No significant difference (p = 0.05) existed in the microbial loads of oven-dried and brined sun-dried samples stored at ambient temperature. The TVCs of all traditionally dried samples were microbiologically unacceptable (>(log10 5.0 cfu g-1) after 4 days of ambient storage with Bacillus, Clostridium, Staphylococcus sp and Aspergillus flavus being dominant microorganisms isolated. Whereas the fresh meat of L.libycus treated with 5 % w/v NaCl and stored at low temperatures (4, -7 °C) exhibited drastic reduction in microbial load with shelf-life extension to 6 days, that stored at 28 °C preserved the meat for 4 days.
Keywords
Fresh water snail, brine, microbial quality, drying, shelf life, storage temperature.
|
