Department of Food Science, Ishikawa Agricultural College, Ishikawa 921-8836, Japan
In the case of 34 products of fermented fishes in bran paste (nukazuke, salinity; 10-15%) made by 13 factories, predominant bacterial group was halophilic lactococci, however samples obtained from the different factories or different fishes showed different numbers of the bacteria (<102 to 107cfu/g). The numbers of halophilic or osmophilic yeasts ranged from <102 to 106cfu/g. In three samples among the nukazuke samples, aerobic cocci and yeasts were dominant rather than the lactococci. Though the main organic acid in the products was lactic acid, the lactic acid concentration also differed (0.1 to 1.7g/100g) between different factories and fishes. Volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) in the nukazuke ranged from 50 to 230mg/100g.