3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Proximate composition
The proximate compositions of the Korean and Bruneian shrimp
pastes are shown in Table 1. The shrimp paste from Brunei showed
the highest and most significant moisture content (p < 0.05). The
protein content was shown to be significantly higher in the Korean
dried shrimp paste (p < 0.05). The fat and the ash content of the
Korean fermented Saewoojeot shrimp paste tended to be higher than
in the other pastes. Montano et al [21] reported that the Filipino
shrimp paste, Alamang, had a moisture content of 33.2%, fat content
of 0.91%, and ash content of 43.9%. Deshmukh [5] reported that a
shrimp paste from Singapore, which is also called belacan, contained
27% moisture and 36% protein. In the Bruneian belacan used in the
present study, the composition differed depending on the regional
differences in manufacturing procedures. Fermentedfish and shrimp
paste products from Asia have a moisture content of 56.1e70.9% [7].
3.2. pH, water activity, and salinity
The pH, water activity, and salinity of the Korean and Bruneian
shrimp pastes are shown in Table 2. The pH of the Korean dried
shrimp paste was significantly higher than in the other pastes. The
pH of the Saewoojeot paste was 6.83e7.23, and the pH decreased
during fermentation [12,22]. Mizutani et al [23] showed that
Korean shrimp paste had pH 7.50, and Yoshiko [7] reported that
Korean Saewoojeot paste had pH 7.10, and Fillipino fermented
shrimp paste had pH 7.50, which were similar to the results of the
present study. The pH changes depending on the type of shrimp
paste tested, and on the manufacturing method [24].
The water activity of the Korean fermented and dried Saewoojeot
shrimp paste was 0.682, which was significantly lower than