Microbiological and chemical quality of a traditional salted-fermented fish (Hout-Kasef) product of Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia

The Hout-Kasef is traditional salted fermented fish product of natural fermentation of salted mullet fish of coastal area of Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. The present study was carried out to investigate the microbiological and chemical characteristic of Hout-Kasef. A total of twenty-four salted fish samples were purchased from fish market in Jazan and Abu-Arish at different times of the year. The microbial studies of salted-fermented fish revealed a total bacterial count ranging from 2.81 to 4.72 Log(10) CFU/g, yeast and mold counts ranging from 0.48 to 3.14 Log(10) CFU/g, total staphylococci count 2.71–3.85 Log(10) CFU/g, halophile bacteria count 3.26–5.14 Log(10) CFU/g, and coliforms count <1 Log(10) CFU/g. However, pathogenic bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio spp., Campylobacter spp. and Yersinia species were not detected. The major bacteria species isolated and identified from the salted fermented fish were Bacillus Subtilus, Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus pumilus, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus hominis, Staphylococcus xylosus, Staphylococcus saprophticus and Staphylococcus cahnii subsp cahnii. The chemical analysis of salted fermented fish showed high content of moisture (47.96%), protein (25.71%), ash (19.6%) and salt (15.19%) but low contents of lipid (7.25%). The salted-fermented fish also showed high level of total volatile basic nitrogen (78.86 mg/100 gm sample) and thiobarbutric acid number (32.32 mg malonaldehyde/kg) with a pH value of pH 6.3. Finally, this study showed the presence of gram positive and gram negative bacteria in the fish product. The predominant microorganisms found were Bacillus and Staphylococcus spp. The fish product had high content of salt and TVB-N levels.