Changes in Physicochemical and Microbiological Qualities of Salted Sapet-Siam Fish

Abstract

Sepat-Siam is one of the most important fish species in Thailand. Traditional salt has been applied as a food preservative to inhibit growth of foodborne pathogens and food spoilage organisms in Sepat-Siam fish. The aim of this research was to clarify the optimum condition for curing fish with NaCl at different concentrations (0%, 3%, 5%, 7% and 9% w/w NaCl). Physicochemical quality (pH and water activity), Microbiological quality (total bacteria and Yeast and Mold populations) and overall acceptance were investigated. The result indicated the higher salt contents in these samples apparently had some inhibitory effects on bacteria, yeast and mold growth, that high inhibition activity was received from 9%, 7% and 5% w/w NaCl, respectively. The %5w/w NaCl represented highest values of overall acceptance score.