Practice Abstract - Research and innovation

PAH-safe smoking of farmed fish

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Smoking is one of the low-cost fish preservation technologies available to processors at artisanal level. Smoking entails dehydration, imparts antioxidant and antibacterial properties from the phenolic compounds. Technically at artisanal level, it is for impartation of smoky flavour. Traditionally, fish is smoked using local kilns, mud and wattle, altona kiln, mechanical, afos kiln and chokor kiln.  However, the cited kilns expose fish to high levels of carcinogenic compounds (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAH) from the dispersed phase of smoke, for example benzoαpyrine. NARO has developed a PAH safe smoking technology that gives a good quality smoked fish product with acceptable levels of PAH below 5 ppb.
The processing steps are as follows:
1. All the fish were drip dried for 1 hour in the sun and then placed on trays inside the smoking kiln
2. Smoke was induced from green banana peelings and tree wood for a period of 3-4 hour at 40 °C. This was gradually increased to 50 and 70 °C over a period of 4 hours
3. The kiln temperature was gradually increased to 100 °C for a period of 3 hours and maintained for a further 2 hours after the fish had been turned over 
4. The heat source was then removed and the fish allowed to cool  to room temperature before packaging 
The PAH-safe smoking technology was used to develop smoked fish products (Nile Tilapia and African Catfish) with extended shelf life. 

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Source Project
FoodLAND - Food and Local, Agricultural and Nutritional Diversity
Completed | 2020-2025
Main funding source
Horizon 2020 (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
Geographical location
Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania
Project details

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