Chemical and microbiological characteristics of Pacik Kule, a traditional fermented carp from Southeast Aceh

Abstract

Pacik kule is a dish made from carp (Cyprinus carpio) which is commonly found in Southeast Aceh as traditional food. Before being processed into pacik kule, carps are fermented for 1 to 2 days at room temperature using salt or without salt. This study aims to analyze the effect of salt addition and fermentation time on the chemical and microbial characteristics of pacik kule. This research used factorial completely randomized design consisting of 2 factors. The first factor was the fermentation time which consists of 2 levels, namely 1 day (K1) fermentation, and 2 days (K2) fermentation. The second factor is the addition of salt consisting of 2 levels, which is S1 (without salt) and (S2) with salt (1.5%). The analysis conducted is a chemical analysis and microbiological analysis. The results showed that the length of fermentation affected the total lactic acid bacteria but did not affect other parameters such as protein content, total volatile bases, and pH. The addition of salt affected the water content and total lactic acid bacteria but did not affect protein content, pH, and total volatile bases (TVB). The interaction between length of fermentation and salt addition affected water content, protein content, total volatile bases (TVB), and total lactic acid bacteria. Based on the results of chemical and microbiological analysis, fermentation for 1 day with the addition of salt (1.5%) was the best treatment with the highest protein content (11.93%), total lactic acid bacteria (9.4 log CFU/g), water content the lowest (17.41%) and the lowest total volatile base (13.63 mgN / 100g).