Microbial and Spectroscopic Assessment on the Elemental Composition of Edible Clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the Microbial and Spectroscopic Elemental Composition of Edible Clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) in Bahrain. Specifically, it determined the elemental composition and their concentrations was compared with the normal composition of daily serving of clams. The determination on the presence of microbes was also done and microbes present were identified. Clams samples were collected along the seashore of Tubli in the Kingdom of Bahrain where they are abundantly found. The collected clams were transported to the Biochemistry laboratory of the College of Medicine of AMA –International University of Bahrain for analysis. The spectrophotometer was used to determine the elemental composition which were limited to the analysis of calcium, chlorides, magnesium, sodium , iron and zinc. Results show that the elemental composition of the clam on calcium, magnesium, sodium and chloride were found to contain higher composition as compared to the normal elements found on daily serving of clams which may be due to the nature of substrate found in the area where the edible clams were collected while the composition of  potassium, copper and iron  was found to be lower than the normal elemental component of daily serving of clams which means that these elements are not that much in the area where the clam samples were collected  considering that clams are considered scavengers. Lastly, the analysis on zinc was found to have same concentration when compared to the normal elemental composition on clams. This indicates that chlorides in the area where the samples were collected are minimal knowing that chloride is one of the major inorganic anions present in water and sewage which is responsible on the salty taste produced by chloride concentration and depends upon the chemical composition of water. The microbial test results show that the collected clams were contaminated with fecal coli forms and cocci coli forms so proper handling and cooking it properly is one of the remedies in patronizing the clams.

Keywords: Microbial and Assessment of Elemental Composition