Some flavouring constituents of fermented fish sauces

The aroma of fermented fish sauce comprises three distinct notes, cheesy, meaty and ammoniacal. Analysis showed that the cheesy odour was produced by lower fatty acids and the ammoniacal odour by ammonia and amines. The meatyaroma was much more complicated and was not analysed, but it was shown that it could be produced by atmospheric oxidation of precursors that were still present in mature sauces. Individual fatty acids were determined in sauces at various stages of fermentation and an hypothesis explaining the origin of the acids is deduced from the results.