Analysis of mold and aflatoxins in processed fish and their control with electrolyzed water

T he purpose of this study was to look at the likelihood of mold contamination in salted feseikh, sardine, and smoked herrings that are marketed in retail settings. Additionally, the total aflatoxins (AFTs) in the examined samples were estimated and further discussion was held regarding their potential health risks associated with them. The effect of the electro-lyzed water (EW) on the residual concentrations of AFTs and the overall amount of mold in the salted feseikh was also investigated. Feseikh had the highest mold contamination, followed by salted sardine and smoked herrings at 80%, 50%, and 23.33%, respectively. Total mold count was 3.05±0.15 log 10 cfu/g in feseikh, followed by salted sardine (2.68±0.09), and smoked her-rings (2.26±0.04), respectively. Four mold genera were recovered from the examined samples under examination: Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp ., and Fusarium spp . The most predominant mold species found in the analyzed samples was Aspergillus spp . The analyzed samples had recorded mean values of total aflatoxins (ppb) of 3.98±0.27 (feseikh), 3.19±0.25 (salted sardine