Dried salted anchovy: 1. Quality and processing survey

Survey of the quality and processing of dried salted anchovy was conducted. There were 65 samples from the producing area in the south, 15 samples from the east and another 74 samples from various markets sampled for the physical, chemical and biological quality assessment. The survey showed that there were 3 types of dried anchovy products. The first type was dried fish without pre-boiling, the second one was boiled fish in brine before drying and the last one especially tiny anchovy was boiled in brine and laid on the screen without direct sun drying. This product consists of 3 sizes by the length of whole dried fish i.e. the large size (GT 6.5 cm), medium size (3.5-6.5 cm) and small size (LT 3.5 cm). The sensory evaluation using the developed sensory score sheet and the trained panels was carried out. The 3 attributes of odour, appearance and texture were evaluated with the rating score of 1-9. The result showed this product could be classified into four grades. The quality score of 8-9, 7, 5-6 and 1-4 defined the best, good, fair and unacceptable, respectively. It was also found that there were 10 and 5 of the best and good dried salted anchovy samples from the east, 14 and 51 of the good and fair quality samples from the south and 12 and 62 of the good and unacceptable samples from various markets. In addition, the chemical analysis of all samples including moisture content, pH, water activity, salt content (percent dried basis), total volatile bases, thiobarbituric acid no., and histamine content were 14-55 percent, 6-7, 0.60-0.95, 5.56-26.19 percent (dried basis), 23.57-299.92 mg/100g. 2.26-48.65 mgMal/kg sample and 0-57.03 mg/100g, respectively. According to the analysis of fatty acid profile, 15 fatty acids were obtained and DHA and EPA were found at 18.8-20.5 percent and 5.5-6.8 percent total peak area respectively. The total viable count, Staphylococcus aureus and mold of this product from both producing areas were not greater than 1*10**(5) cfu/g, 100 cfu/g, and 2*10**(2) cfu/g. respectively while most of sample from various markets were found higher than that. However, Salmonella, Vibrio cholerae and Clostridium perfringens were not detected in all samples.