Abstract
[Objective] Fish sauce is a liquid seasoning made by fermenting raw fish with salt and is produced in many Asian countries, including Japan. The control of histamine concentration in fish sauce is important because the CODEX standard specifies that the histamine concentration in the sauce should be less than 400 ppm. In our previous study, we reported that the combined treatment of tannic acid and cation exchange resin was effective in removing histamine. In the meeting, we report on the removal of histamine from fish sauce using only tannin, aiming not only to confirm the effectiveness of this method but also to reduce the cost and simplify the process. [Methods] Thirty-six types of fish sauce were used, including Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese. Five types of tannins were used: mimosa, cod, chestnut, persimmon, and quebracho. Histamine was measured using Check Color Histamine Assay Kit (Kikkoman Co. Ltd.).[Results] Histamine concentrations in fish sauces were measured, and the sauces contained 15.0-437 ppm histamine. 13 fish sauces with high histamine concentrations were selected from 36 samples, and histamine removal using tannins was performed. The results showed that tannins removed about 30-60% of histamine. Tannins from cod and quebracho had particularly high histamine removal rates. Amino acid analysis of tannin-treated and non-tannin-treated fish sauce showed little difference between the two. Therefore, the results suggest that tannin treatment does not affect the taste-related components. These results indicate that tannin treatment is as effective as tannic acid and cation exchange resin in removing histamine from fish sauce
