Comparison of Physicochemical, microbial and sensory characteristics of Suragh; a traditional fish sauce with sauce without red soil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine physicochemical characteristics, sensory acceptability, and microbial quality of Suragh, a traditional and popular fish sauce in south of Iran. Fish sauce was produced from the rainbow sardine Dussumieria acuta with 30% salt concentrations and 180 days of fermentation. In this research, two treatments were used with red soil (A) and without red soil (B). The treatment B was a Halal product. There were no significant differences in proximate composition and TVN between two treatments, but pH of treatment A was significantly higher than that of the treatmentB (P≤0.05). The pH value and TVB-N content were 5.69-6.29 and 134.51-147.67 mg/100g, respectively. The sauce sample of treatment A was reddish in color, having a* value of 20.93. The amino acid composition of both treatments was comparable to other commercial sauces. It was also found that the Suragh could be a good nutritional source for human with high levels of EPA and DHA contents. The TVC, halophilic bacteria, yeast and mould in both treatments decreased to less than 1 logCFU/g after fermentation and there was no significant differences between two treatments (P≥0.05). The sensory evaluation showed that sample A had the highest overall acceptance score (P≤0.05).

Keywords

• amino acid
• color measurements
• dussumieria acuta
• fatty acid
• rainbow sardine