FISH SAUCE FERMENTATION (BUDU FERMENTATION)

PICTURE TAKEN FROM WWW.KOSMO.COM.MY)
I have recently come across this interesting write up in the local paper KOSMO (www.kosmo.com.my) dated 2 June 2009 about a local entrepreneur getting involved in fish sauce fermentation or Budu fermentation.

Budu is a fish sauce fermentation which basically uses anchovies as the main fish for the fermentation. The fish sauce is very popular or almost idolized by the people from the state of Kelantan and Trengganu.



The fermentation process basically involves the adding of certain proportion of salt to water to the fish in the fermenting vat. Depending on the producer the budu fermentation might take up to a few months.

The quality of the fish sauce depends on a lot of factors such as the type of fish being used, the proportion of salt being used, duration of fermentation and of course the acidity of the fermentation process. There are of course variations in the recipes for budu fermentation depending on each manufacturer

I find this article to be interesting because:

1 It is the first grand attempt to produce budu on a large or industrial scale using large fermentation tanks.


According to the article the initial fermentation were carried out in in cement tanks or fibre glass tanks. There are about 20 fibre glass tanks 1.2 metre high and 2 metres wide.

At the end of about 6 month fermentation, the fermented fish sauce are kept in containers as shown below before being processed and bottled up


2 Since the budu fermentation is relying upon the supply of anchovies the process of fermentation could only be carried out between June to November when the anchovies are in abundant supply. From December to May are for cooking filtering and bottling the budu sauce




DISCUSSIONS

Budu is one of the diversity of fish sauces fermented or produced in the region such as Thailand and Vietnam. The basic fermentation process is the same all though there could be variations in the type of fishes used and the recipes followed.

In general budu is more a cottage industry and supplies the local consumption

Attempts to scale up the fermentation process to industrial scale are often hampered by:

1) Lack of demand for the products as budu is an acquired taste
2) Competition from similar products produced by other countries
3) Budu is considered a slow and passive fermentation process which technically would not fit the criteria of industrial fermentation
4) The supply of anchovies is seasonal and limited and the fish is widely used in everyday cooking making it costly to produce budu
5) In most of the cottage industries fermentation, GMP and HACCP are very difficult to be adhered to

The viability of budu and its transformation into a large scale industry need to be properly studied before going all out.

We need to know important data such as:
1 What are the rate limiting steps in the budu fermentation industries
2 Better fermentor or bioreactor design for budu fermentation
3 To carry out better marketing and sales plan to convince the public
4 Carry further scientific research to improve the quality of budu sauce
5 Need better GMP and HACCP established procedures
6 Consistency and high quality in the final product especially using SOP

QUALITY CONTROL AND SURVIVAL OF THE BUDU FERMENTATION INDUSTRY

As previously mentioned the budu or fish sauce is not the sole proprietary rights of Malaysian budu makers. There are similar products produced by Thailand, Vietnam and even Philipines. If the budu fermentation industry is to survive and expand it must be able to compete with the other fish sauce manufacturers. Sadly to say in this aspect our budu fermentation industries are not ready to compete with the budu global market. They need to improve and be competitive and be at par with the other countries fish sauce industries.

It doesnt take a lot of convincing where we are by just visiting a few of the budu industries to see where we are. Reality bites!

One of the most important thing in the budu industry is not so much as increasing the volume of production but to bring real QC or qualuty control of international standards into our budu industries.

The subject of QC covers every aspect of budu fermentation right up from the upstream activities to the downstream processing when the budu is bottled or packed. In the application of QC in the budu industries we cannot rely on the art of budu fermentation and the skill acquired from father to son alone. We have to go technological and scientific in our approach. There is no such thing as half hearted effort. It must be an all out change for Quality

Quality control starts with the step of getting the substrate of the fermentation itself, ie the fish or anchovies. For high quality budu you need to use the best, the freshest or the highest quality anchovies.

The manufacturing process facilities of the budu fermentation must be very hygienic and comply with good manufacturing practice (GMP). Sanitation standard of the place must be of the highest standard and in no way the manufacturing facilities look like a dump or a workshop!Every component of the manufacturing process which includes the machines, equipments and even the budu fermentors must be GMP approved. Just building a few fire glass fermentation tanks or concrete tanks would not be sufficient to convince

In the GMP of budu fermentation it is of utmost importance that things like personal hygiene of workers be considered. There should not be any free acess of pests or rodents or any unwanted visitors that might find its way into the premise or even the fermentation vats. The quality of water used in the fermentation must be monitored. Cleaning and washings including the use of disinfection of the floor and facilities should be carried out regularly. Waste disposal issues must be addressed.

Strict quality control programme must be implemented so as not to allow products of suspected quality to go through

Since budu is a food and a popular one too, the international food standard or (CODEX), HACCP must be followed. Only then can we be assured that the industry has met international standard and can face global market


The quality of the final product must be assured by quality control.This is important as then our customer will feel safe and reassured. In view of this the QC department must ensure that the product comply with the requirements of the various regulating bodies such as the ministry of health. The QC lab must be equipped with the right equipment and qualified staff to carry this work













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