Tina Agbon Ileogben¹ , Olatunde Oginni² , Oluwatosin Akinrolabu²

1 Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria
2 Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2018, Vol. 8, No. 23   
Received: 24 Jul., 2018    Accepted: 25 Sep., 2018    Published: 12 Oct., 2018

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study was conducted to evaluate the sensory and economic indices of Sarotherodon galilaeus snack treated with extract of Ocimum gratissimum, Vernonia amygdalina, and mixture of both Ocimum gratissimum and Vernonia amygdalina extracts and untreated snack to determine its acceptability and economic viability. Twelve samples of the fish were procured from fish mongers at the fishermen’s landing site at Ode Ekiti, Gbonyin Local Government Area, Ekiti State, Nigeria. At the laboratory, the fish were cleaned, sorted, weighed, and filleted. Crude extracts of O. gratissimum and V. amygdalina were obtained by squeezing thoroughly washed plant into separate bowls. Fillets were cut into pieces and staked on sterilized palm frond stick, dipped into crude extract/brine and spiced. Spiced stakes were cooked-dried in a smouldering fire. Sensory evaluation of the snack was done using a taste panel guided with a questionnaire containing scores of attributes under study. Economic analysis was cried out based on cost, total revenue, gross margin, profitability/loss, net profit and benefit-cost ratio. Mean weight of fish sample and percent fillet yield were 451.75 ± 120.70 g and 33.29 ± 1.90 g respectively. Mean processing yields were 98.7 ± 2.96 g and 33.7 ± 2.18 g before and after cook drying. Organoleptic assessment of the snack samples showed that all the snacks were acceptable with snack treated with O. gratissimum having the highest score (4.22 ± 0.91). Economic evaluation of the snack production showed that total cost, total revenue, gross margin, profitability/loss, net profit and benefit-cost ratio were ₦8,808.825, ₦11,430, ₦2,679.655, ₦2,621.175, ₦2,679.655, ₦2,621.175 and 0.298 respectively. Thus indicating that investment cost for the snack is relatively low with high returns. The acceptability of the snack along with its low production cost implied that production of the snack could contribute to income and employment generation as well as a means to enhance fish production through value addition. The production of the snack is recommended as a veritable approach to self-employment and poverty alleviation especially rural/riverine communities.

 

Snack; Sensory; Economic indices; Sarotherodon galilaeus; Ocimum gratissimum; Vernonia amygdalina