Metabolic Mechanisms and Flavor Evolution of Traditional Fermented Fish

學生姓名: 郭秉翰
指導教授: 劉修銘
學期: 114下
摘  要: The characteristic flavor of traditional fermented fish is governed by the coordinated evolution of taste-active metabolites and volatile organic compounds. Superior taste development is driven by extensive protein and lipid hydrolysis, coupled with specific metabolic pathway activation. Specifically, umami and sweet amino acids accumulate to reach high taste activity values (TAV > 1), defining the core taste profile in species like ovate pompano. Concurrently, the unique "stinky but delicious" paradox of fermented mandarin fish emerges from a dual mechanism. While total volatile organic compounds surge significantly from 87.62 to 5235.87 μg/kg, indole dominates the characteristic scent with a remarkably high odor activity value (OAV of 443.39), alongside the conversion of TMAO to trimethylamine (OAV of 44.82). Although 5'- nucleotides degrade during fermentation, this loss of umami is effectively compensated by the significant increase in succinic acid and free amino acids. Pathway profiling indicates that alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism regulates taste intensity, whereas tryptophan metabolism directly drives indole production. Furthermore, correlation analyses reveal strong associations between key volatiles and metabolic biomarkers—such as sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and hypoxanthine—which exhibit high variable importance in projection (VIP > 1). Collectively, fermented fish flavor develops through a coupled mechanism: the dynamic accumulation of taste metabolites for palatability, synchronized with the pathway-specific generation of characteristic VOC. Understanding these metabolic events provides a scientific foundation for precision fermentation and quality standardization in traditional aquatic processing.