Biochemical Changes and Aroma Development during the Spontaneous Fermentation of Cassava Fish into Lanhouin and Their Influence on Product Acceptability

Abstract

Lanhouin, a fermented product from cassava fish (Pseudotolithus sp.), was produced by spontaneous fermentation with inherent risks of quality defects. In this respect, changes in moisture, protein, free fatty acids, total volatile nitrogen, and histamine were monitored during the fermentation period using Pearson’s and AOAC methods. The aroma compounds were detected using the Likens-Nickerson extraction method and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The results showed that the moisture and protein contents decreased while free fatty acid (FFA) and total volatile nitrogen (TVN) increased during fermentation. In contrast, there was no linear relationship between the histamine content and fermentation time since the histamine values didn’t increase continuously as fermentation progressed. A total of 94 compounds were detected in the fermenting fish over a period of 8 days, and 82 compounds were positively identified with a quality index higher than 70%. The compounds included 15 aliphatic hydrocarbons, 9 esters, 9 ketones, 9 amines, 7 aldehydes, 6 aromatic hydrocarbons, 7 acids, 6 thiazoles, 5 alcohols, 3 phenols, 2 amides, 2 furans, and 2 pyrroles.