Bacteriological properties and health-related biochemical components of fermented fish sauce: An overview

Fish sauce is an amber-colored salty liquid in Southeast Asian cuisine
used as an important condiment for improving the taste of foods. It is
produced by fermenting the fish with salt in the ratios of 1:1 or 3:1
(fish:salt, wet wt) in underground concrete tanks or earthenware for
6–12 months at ambient conditions. Proteins of the raw materials are
hydrolyzed into peptides and amino acids by microbial proteolytic
enzymes during fermentation. This paper reviews fish sauce diversity
and its bacteriological, biochemical, and biofunctional properties.
Additionally, efforts to accelerate fish sauce production by employing
halotolerant bacterial cultures and proteinases to reduce the fermentation
period and also to improve the acceptability of the product are
also reviewed. Further, the review provides an overview of bacterial
proteinases that have been employed to enhance the sensory and
microbiological quality of fish sauce. The review also outlines the
effect of fermented fish sauces on health, especially in reference to
several bioactive peptides and bacterial metabolites apart from discussing
desalination technique to recover the metabolites from fish
sauce.