Biochemical, nutritional and microbiological quality of fresh and smoked mud eel fish Monopterus albus—a comparative study

A comparative study of the biochemical, nutritional and microbiological quality of the fresh (FF) and smoked (SF) symbranchoid mud eel fish, Monopterus albus was carried out. SF had lower percentages of total protein (79.0 vs 76.0), pure protein (66.7 vs 57.1), lipid (10.74 vs 9.82) and ash (7.00 vs 6.00) contents than FF. The pH values of SF were more acidic than those of FF (6.90 vs 7.25). Digestibility and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were significantly less (P<0.05) in SF. Total plate counts of bacteria (TPC) and fungi (TFC) were 106–107 g−1 and 102 g−1, respectively in FF and 109–1010 g−1 and 105 g−1, respectively, in SF. Salmonella and E. coli were not present in any samples examined. However, coliform bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and faecal Streptococci were detected in both. Seven genera of fungi were present in FF, the dominant one being Fusarium sp. Five genera of fungi were detected in SF, out of which Penicillium was dominant.