Quality Evaluation of Bakasang Processed with Variation of Salt Concentration, Temperature and Fermentation Time

Production of bakasang in North Sulawesi has not been standardized. Local people still produce it without considering the optimal conditions and the fermentation is done in a simple way. The fish viscera is traditionally fermented inside a bottle with addition of salt and incubated under the sun for a few days until it turns into a liquid. In this present study, the quality of bakasang was assessed during various fermentation condition.

The viscera of fresh cakalang (Katsuwonus pelamis) fish was fermented under various temperatures (30, 50 and 70°C) for 5, 10 and 15 days with the addition of 10, 20 and 30% of salt. The property of quality included pH, moisture content, free fatty acid (FFA) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) of the bakasang product.

The results of this study indicated that moisture content ranged from 16.42-77.98%. Moisture content decreased with increasing the salinity, fermentation temperature and fermentation time. The pH of bakasang ranged from 5.66-6.73. The pH of bakasang decreased with the increasing salinity. The FFA level ranged from 1.42-5.18, it increased with increasing fermentation time but decreased with increasing fermentation temperature and increased salt level. The TBA (expressed in malondialdehyde/MDA) level varied from 0.53-4.81 g/100 g, it decreased with increasing salinity and fermentation temperature but decreased with increasing fermentation time.

The data revealed that based on the property of quality, the best product was bakasang produced using salt 20-30% at 70°C which was fermented for 15 days.