Chemical and microbial properties of mahyaveh, a traditional Iranian fish sauce

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the chemical and microbial properties of traditional Iranian fish sauce, mahyaveh. Fish sauce samples used in this study originated from five different locations in the Southern part of Iran. The pH of mahyaveh samples from different locations was in the range of 4.89–7.55 and NaCl concentration was in the range of 7.48–17.1%. The overall mean of TVB-N in all the samples tested was 3098 mg/kg. Histamine, with the overall mean of 2662 mg/kg, was found to be the main biogenic amine in the Iranian fish sauce. The high histamine content can be related to the high levels of bacterial count especially enterobacteriaceae (overall mean of 3.41 log cfu/g) and lactic acid bacteria (overall mean of 4.13 log cfu/g) in this product. Spermidine was the second dominant biogenic amine, while putrescine and tyramine were present at low concentrations in samples from different locations. Consequently, the major problem associated with this product is the very high histamine content. Mahyaveh, therefore, might not be completely safe for human consumption and excessive intake of this product on a regular basis is not recommended.