Some Chemical and Microbiological Characteristics of <i>Agashi</i> Meat Product

This study aimed to determine the chemical characteristics and the microbiological quality of Agashi sliced meat product which is consumed largely as snack food in Sudan. The study addressed the contents of moisture (32.76% ± 0.30% to 72.37% ± 0.21%), ash (0.97% ± 0.4% to 8.55% ± 0.2%), proteins (10.5% ± 0.45% to 30.7% ± 0.5%), fibers (0.20% ± 0.3% to 0.81% ± 0.6%), fats (3.34% ± 0.32% to 11.9% ± 0.1%) carbohydrates (0.39% ± 0.83 to 45.93% ± 0.84%). The concentrations of macro minerals Fe, Na, K were higher in cooked Agashi compared to those of raw Agashi samples, these macro minerals contained a range of 21.5 - 95, 30.6 - 90 and 0.1 - 1.5 mg/100g, respectively. The microbiological analyses revealed presence of high levels of total viable count, coliforms, yeast and mould, Staphylococcus spp. E. coli (about 75% positive samples) in the product, moreover, salmonella was detected in most of the raw and cooked Agashi samples. This high contamination of Agashi with food spoilage organisms and pathogens decrease the quality and constitute a public health hazard