Processing methods, preservation practices and quality attributes of smoked and smoked-dried fishes consumed in Benin

Field Investigations were carried out on traditional processing of fresh fish into smoked fish (SF) and smoked-dried fish (SDF) in southern regions of Benin. A total of 429 stakeholders were interviewed, and data were analysed using Sphinx survey plus2. Factorial Correspondence Analyses were performed with SPSS v16 to reveal both links between fish species, processing methods, and their distribution according to surveyed areas, and links between types of kilns and fuels used, and socio-cultural groups of processors. The results showed that SF and SDF were essentially produced by women (100%), and 32 species of fish were used for SF and SDF production. The smoking kilns used by processors were barrel kiln (67.7%), traditional kiln in clay (31.5%) and Chorkor (5.6%). The direct functioning mode of smoking kilns associated with the use of wood, plastic bags and kerosene as fuels could lead to the contamination of end-products by toxic molecules. Likewise, unsuitable preservation practices including the use of insecticide to prevent harmful insect invasion could not ensure the safety of stored products. Therefore, it would be needful to upgrade both smoking kilns and preservation practices to ensure the safety of processed fish.