EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SMOKE SOURCES ON THE PROXIMATE COMPOSITION AND SENSORY PROPERTIES OF AFRICAN CATFISH (Clarias gariepinus) USING NIOMR MODERN SMOKING KILN

Abstract

As a result of the likely high cost of appropriate smoking sources, up to one-third of fish is wasted and spoils within
a few days, leading to the waste of fish and its scarcity. In this study, three samples of fresh African catfish (Clarias
gariepinus) were smoked using sawdust, charcoal, and wood, with charcoal as a control. The fish samples were
collected from the African Regional Aquaculture Centre pond. Results of the proximate composition showed that
the charcoal-dried fish has the highest crude protein (60.1%) followed by fish samples dried with sawdust had
(50.2%) while samples smoked with wood have 35.2% protein. The sample smoked with wood had the lowest
moisture content (13.5 %) compared with the fish smoked with charcoal and sawdust (13.59%). The fat content
and the crude fibre of the fish smoked with sawdust were higher (8.36% and 6.03%) than those of the fish smoked
with charcoal and wood (3.20% and 4.24%). There were significant differences (p˃ 0.05) in the taste, flavor, and
color of the fish smoked with firewood as a smoke source (4.04%, 2.22%, and 1.00%, respectively). There was no
significant difference (p˃0.05) in the taste, flavour, and color of the fish smoked with charcoal and sawdust. The
general acceptability of the fish smoked with charcoal was highly significant.