Amin Oujifard

This study was undertaken to investigate the chemical, nutritional, microbial, and sensory properties of fish sauce Suragh prepared by fermentation using Rainbow sardine (Dussumieria acuta) with red soil (3%) at different salt concentrations (20%, 25%, 30%, and 35%). The fermentation process was carried out for 180 days at room temperature. The pH value and total volatile base-nitrogen (TVB-N) content of sauces range from 7.04 to 5.47 and 288.43–70.83 mg/100 g with the increasing level of salt concentration, respectively. Amino acid analyses revealed that lysine and leucine are the major essential amino acids, while glutamine/glutamic acid and alanine are the dominant nonessential amino acids in fish sauces. The fatty acid profile showed decreasing contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and highunsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) in fish sauce samples when the salt level increased. The total viable count (TVC), halophilic bacteria, yeast, and mold of all samples decreased to less than 1 log CFU/g after fermentation. The sensory evaluation showed that the sample with 35% salt added had the highest overall acceptance score. Based on the chemical, nutritional, microbial, and sensory evaluation, high-quality fish sauce Suragh could be produced using 35% salt concentration, and it could be considered as a healthy condiment for human consumption.