INDUCTION OF NORMOCYTIC-NORMOCHROMIC ANAEMIA IN Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) EXPOSED TO ACUTE CONCENTRATION OF 1, 1-dimethyl 4,4-bipiridillium (PARAQUAT) UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS

fish were exposed to test water separately diluted with acute concentrations of paraquat of 0, 15, 20, 25 and 30mg/L. A 96Hrs exposure to acute concentrations of the toxicant resulted in normocytic-normochromic anaemia in the exposed fish. Blood indices attributable to normocytic-normochromic anaemia was observed with a significant (p<0.05) decrease in haemoglobin, haematocrit, red blood cells compared with fish in the control test: Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscularhaemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were not significantly different (p>0.05). White blood cells, lymphocytes, monocytes, Neutrophils, eosinophil and basophil were also not significantly different (p>0.05) with increasing concentrations of the toxicant&nbsp

MYCOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF DIFFERENTLY PRESERVED TILAPIA FISH IN ABEOKUTA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT, NIGERIA

Fungi load and diversity of differently preserved tilapia fish obtained from Olomoore market, Abeokuta North local Government, Nigeria were evaluated. Fish samples were purchased, differently processed (smoking, salting, freezing) and analyzed for the presence of fungi. Microbial loads on the gills and the skin of fish samples were examined and characterised using standard microbiological procedures. The progression of growth was also monitored within 10-day storage period. The fungi isolated from the differently processed tilapia were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus spp, Branchysporum nigrum, Candida albican, Candida spp., Fusarium solani, Fusarium spp., Paecilomyces spp., Rhizopus stolonifer and Aspergillus 8flavus. No significant variation (p>0.05) was recorded in the fungal count of the skin during the first day of processing. However, significant variation (p<0.05) existed in the fungal count of the gill of the fish during the first day of processing. On the tenth day frozen fish skin had the highest fungal count while smoked fish skin possessed the lowest fungal count. There were significant difference (p<0.05) in the fungal count of the skin and the gill of differently processed fish samples during the storage. Similarly, significant variation (p<0.05) existed in the fungi count of the gill during the tenth day of processing

PROXIMATE AND MINERAL COMPOSITION OF SPICED, SMOKED CATFISH Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and microbial load of naturally preserved smoked African mud catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) and microbial load of naturally preserved smoked African mud catfish (Clarias gariepinus Burchell, 1822) were examined. The experimental design was Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with the treatments been the variously preserved C. gariepinus catfish (garlic, ginger, garlic-ginger homogenate preserved and the control without spices). PAH and the microbial load were determined using standard experimental procedures. All PAH values were within internationally recommend value for human consumption, the aerobic mesophilic counts of unpreserved smoked catfish was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than other preserved smoked C. gariepinus (2.51 ± 0.01- 8.98 ± 0.02 log cfu/g); while garlic-ginger preserved smoked catfish product had the lowest aerobic mesophilic counts (2.48 ± 0.01-8.92 ± 0.01 log cfu/g) during the period of the experiment. Similar trends were observed in the mould fungal, Staphylococcal, coliform, Salmonella and Shigella counts. However, Staphylococcal counts, coliform count and Salmonella and Shigella counts were not detected in the samples at the onset of the experiment. The preserved smoked fish are good and safe for human consumptions when stored at ambient temperatures (25-36oC) for 56 days. The combination of garlic and ginger provide a much stronger antibiotic effect than the individual ingredients

Gender Differentia Among Fish Farmers Within Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria

Gender differentia among fish farmers within the Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria was studied with the aim of evaluating the level of involvement of the different gender in fish production activities, accessing their access to credit, and the constraints faced by them. A multistage sampling technique using a structured questionnaire was adopted for this study, the sample size was 210 using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0. 61.90% of respondents were male while 52.5% and 49.2% of female and male respondents respectively were in their active age group of < 30 years. Females were more involved in fish marketing (42.90%) and fish processing (48.75%). There exist a significant association (p<0.05) between gender and level of involvement in fish marketing (χ2=9.20, p<0.05), access to land (χ2=10.69, p<0.05), and fish production activities (χ2=11.83, p<0.05). Access to credit was poor. Constraints faced include poor access to credit facilities, inadequate information, high cost of feed production, and poor water quality. It is therefore recommended that access to credit facilities banks of agriculture, microfinance banks, and commercial banks should be improved on while fish farmers are also encouraged to form cooperative societies as it will improve the capacity building of farmers and ease their credit acquisition for farming activities

Assessment of occupational hazards associated with smoked fish production in selected fish smoking centers within Oyo state, Nigeria

The study assessed the occupational hazards associated with smoked fish production in selected fish smoking centers within Oyo state Nigeria. The study employed multi stage sampling technique. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-economic characteristics of respondents, job description of the respondents, hazards associated with fish smoking, employer’s responsiveness towards hazards. The data obtained were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis such as frequencies and percentages which were used in organizing, summarizing and presenting the research findings. Most workers (59%) that participated in fish smoking activities in the study area are in their active age (31 – 40 years), they spend 6 – 10 hours per day on the job and the industry is dominated by females (77%). Most (63%) of the respondents experienced accidental knife cut as major physical hazard while 62%, 56% and 42% saw body pain, headache and high body temperature respectively as a major health hazards associated with fish processing. Poor ventilation, poor posture and poor illumination ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd environmental hazards associated with fish smoking activities while radiation was not seen as a major environmental hazard in fish smoking industry. This study also reveled that processing of smoked fish significantly (P<0.05) pose one form of hazard or another to respondents in the study area while Majority (83.3%) of the respondents claimed that their employers promptly make provision for protective equipment but little provision was made for worker’s health surveillance programme (28% promptly pay) and worker’s health insurance scheme (15% promptly pay). It is therefore recommended that relevant agencies of Government to ensure that fish smoking industries take the health and safety of their workers more seriously by ensuring proper health and safety education, providing necessary equipments to reduce health challenges associated with their job and providing proper health insurance scheme Keywords: Occupational, hazards, smoked fish, smoking center

Effect of Processing Methods on Nutritive Value of Catfish (Clarias gariepinus)

This study was carried out to determine the effect of processing methods on catfish (Clarias gariepinus). A total of fifty four catfish (Clarias gariepinus) were used for the experiment. The average weight of the fish used was 500g.  The experimental design was Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with the treatments been the processing methods (smoking, frying and boiling) all replicated thrice. The adopted indices of fish quality assessment of the samples collected were organoleptic assessment, proximate composition and microbial analysis. There was significant difference (P < 0.001) among the group respondent over a period of 5 days with the chi-square statistics test (?2 = 51.436xxx) for boiled fish, (?2 = 54.464xxx) for fried fish and (?2 = 77.348xxx) for smoked fish samples. The result suggested that protein quality will be better retained from smoked fish samples than fried fish samples left at ambient over days as there was no significant difference (p < 0.05) in the crude protein of the smoked fish samples between day 1 and the day 5 of the experiment while significant difference (p < 0.05) existed between day 1 and day 5 in fried fish samples. The microorganisms found on the fish samples included Bacillus spp, Staphylococcus spp and Pseudomonas spp. Keywords: smoking, frying, boiling and catfish

Effect of Holstein influence on the incidence of assisted birth, birth weight, 30 day weight and average daily gain of Hostein-Zebu crossbred calves in a Sub-Saharan African environment

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Effect of processing methods on consumer's acceptability and proximate composition of yellow croaker (Larimichthys polyactis)

Effect of processing methods on consumer’s acceptability and proximate composition of yellow croaker was investigated. The experiment was completely randomized design where the treatments were the various processing methods employed. 12kg frozen yellow croaker fish were purchased, cut into chunks, divided into 4 groups of 3kg each, each group was salted and then subjected to different processing methods including: sun drying, deep- frying, solar drying and smoking. After processing, the products were subjected to organoleptic assessment using hedonic scale while the proximate composition was determined using standard experimental procedures.  The result of this study indicates that the odour and flavour of smoked fish product were significantly (p < 0.01) preferred by consumers above other products. Solar dried fish product had highest percentage crude protein followed by smoked fish product while smoked fish product had the highest crude ash. This study suggests that it is better to process yellow croaker by solar drying and smoking so as to get good nutrients