Abstract:
Belacan is a traditional fermented shrimp paste produced by fermenting tiny shrimp with
salt. Belacan or shrimp paste is well established as one of the main condiments in
Malaysian cuisine. It is normally used as a flavoring ingredient in most spiced foods
especially for seafood dishes. Therefore, belacan provides the strong and complicated
umami taste. Belacan products from three various state of production which is Malacca,
Penang and Terengganu were analyzed to determine their physicochemical characteristics
and make the comparison. The levels or contents of amino acids profile, salt content,
moisture, protein, fat, ash, carbohydrate, pH, texture and color profile in all samples
range from 1107.45 to 1733.50 mg/lg, 20.00 % to 25.79 %, 32.11 % to 44.42 %, 25.32 %
to 34.88 %, 1.02 % to 3.35 %, 24.08 % to 33.63 %, 0.44 % to 8.42 %, 7.06 to 7.46,
4410.43 to 6688.00 force(g), while for color profile value L * ranged between 31.93 to
55.19, for a* ranged between 2.83 to 7.93 and for b* ranged 9.84 to 13.10, respectively.
Of all amino acids determined, glutamic acid dominated in all be/acan samples that
contribute to the umami taste. Also aspartic acid, arginine, leucine and histidine were
found to be the predominant amino acids in all belacan samples. These results also
indicate that belacan products content high essential amino acids, which suggested that
belacan will contribute significantly to the supply of essential amino acids in the diet.
However, all belacan samples indicate high salt content, so that having limited nutritive
value because only small quantities can be consumed at each meal.