Use of Invasive Green Crab Carcinus maenas for Production of a Fermented Condiment

Abstract

To control the population of an invasive species of green crab, we investigated the feasibility of producing a fermented crab condiment. Commercial fermented fish condiments were tested to assess variability in the marketplace and to identify targets for lab-fermented sauces. Finely chopped crab was combined with 100 mg g−1, 200 mg g−1, or 300 mg g−1 NaCl, and spontaneously fermented for up to 120 days. Chromatographic analysis revealed that histamine content was not a safety concern as all treatments were below the current U.S. legal threshold (50 mg 100 mL−1). The majority of microbial and physicochemical properties measured within salt level (proteolytic bacterial population, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN), amine nitrogen, water activity, moisture, and biogenic amines) were statistically unchanged between days 60 and 120 of fermentation, suggesting that most of the biochemical changes happened early in the fermentation. While the production of a fermented condiment was successful and could represent an opportunity for the valorization of this invasive species, additional work is needed to accelerate the process and further understand the dynamics of the early fermentation stages.

Fermented Foods: New Concepts and Technologies for the Development of New Products, Quality Control

“…Genomics and other omics technologies in the next years will be irreplaceable tools for the assessment and monitoring of microbiological and physicochemical changes occurring in fermented foods. This Special Issue contains six research papers on several traditional fermentation products such as bread and sourdough, table olives, cheeses, beer, and fermented fish sauce and a review article on the effect of LAB bacteria in food safety and spoilage prevention [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. In the respective research papers, the authors have used classic and advanced analytical methods as well as molecular techniques to evaluate the traditional and novel fermentation products or processes in an attempt to provide insight of fermentation and/or improve traditional fermented products.…”

“…Greiner et al [5] focused on creating a fermented condiment from Carcinus maenas to control the population of the invasive species and establish an economically feasible use of the crabs. Even though further optimization of the product and process is essential, the experimental crab sauce product was comparable in many respects to currently available commercial fish sauce products.…”