Anchovy paste production from lactic acid fermentation of Anchovy fish found in the Gulf of Thailand

Abstract

Anchovies are small fishes of the Engraulidae familynative to the Mediterraneanand southern European coastlines. It is widely used as seasoning ingredient in European cuisine. In Thailand, anchovies were used to make dried fish and fish sauce. Anchovy paste is made from fermented anchovy fillets being ground into paste.Producing anchovy paste from anchovies found in the Gulf of Thailand will be an alternative way of producing high value anchovies-based product. Lactobacillus pantarum isolated from ka-pi (fermented krill) and Tetragenococcus halophilus isolated from imported anchovy fillets were used as lactic acid bacterial starter for the experiments. This research compared two fermentation processes of making anchovy paste. Process 1: anchovies were fermented in brine for 4 months with and without lactic acid bacterial starter. The cured fish fillets were then ground into paste and blended with olive oil. Process 2: anchovies were fermented in brine with and without lactic acid bacterial starter overnight, then left to air dry in order to reduce the amount of moisture for one day. Next, the fishes were pounded and anaerobic fermented in closed containers for four months before being turned into paste by blending with olive oil.The changes in physical, chemical and microbiological properties of the fish during fermentation were investigated. The bacterial inoculated products of Process 1 had the highest lactic acid concentration and the lowest pH value. The sensory evaluation indicated that theinoculated product of Process 1 had higher over all acceptable score than the un-inoculated product. When the experimented and imported anchovy paste products were used in making Caesar salad dressing, the differences went undetected by trained panelists. Therefore, the anchovy paste made of anchovy fishes from the Gulf of Thailand can be sold commercially and help increase the income for Thai fishermen. This new product can also be exported and replace the need for imported anchovy paste in Thailand.