Kristine Joy P Bernal | Liezl P Greñas | Melissa Alexa N Pateña
Dried fish and other variety of seafood are highly consumed due to its low cost and high availability. It is important to know the quality of the product because continuous consumption of contaminated dried products may pose a health risk to the consumers. 10 grams of each fish species, tuyo, dilis, sapsap, daing, and pusit were obtained. They were randomly selected and thoroughly examined for fungi contamination. Isolation of fungi was carried out by performing washing method, incubating in Sabouraud Dextrose Agar in room temperature for 7 days, and identifying the fungi macroscopically with its morphological structure and with Lactophenol Cotton Blue stain. Fungal growth were described based on color, margin, elevation, and form. Based on the gathered data, the colony of fungi that had been isolated from the Supermarket and Old Market were described in terms of appearance (fuzzy, thready or cottony) and as mold or yeast. Microscopic analysis was done to visualize the characteristic appearance of fungi based on the hyphae, whether aseptate or septate; spore formation, if sporangiospore, arthrospore, conidia, or microconidia; and type of reproduction as to sexual or asexual. This study proved that fungi were present from dried fish and other seafoods sold from Old Market and selected supermarket (Citimart) in Batangas City. Since the presence of these fungal contaminants are noted, eating such products, whether they came from the supermarket or wetmarket, are not safe and harmful to the consumer.
ISSN 2408-3550 (Print)
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