Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Fish and seafood from Coastal West Africa, with Benin as the place the studies come from

Lanhouinlanhouin

Lanhouin is a traditional fermented salted fish made by spontaneous, uncontrolled fermentation of whole salted cassava fish (Pseudotolithus). In a study of three fermentations the fish fermented for 3 to 8 days at 28-30 °C, led by Bacillus and Staphylococcus. Ripening makes the flesh softer and more aromatic.

DocumentedFish and seafood3.3 days – 8.4 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe readable sources give no recipe amounts for the traditional process. The microbial study used fish fermented on three occasions at room temperature (28-30 °C) for 3 to 8 days.
Whole cassava fish (Pseudotolithus sp.)Kindossi et al. name Pseudotolithus senegalensis[kindossi2016]
Salt, used on the whole fish[kindossi2016]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.3 days – 8.4 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countBacilluspH 6.5–6.88–10 h

What changes: Enzymes and microbes soften the fish and build its aroma

Step 1 of 3
Ripen the whole fish
Time
8–10 h
Measured
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6.5–6.8
Measured
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Bacillus

Ripening is a step of the process. Enzymes and microbes break proteins down into peptides and amino acids, which raises the aroma and softness of the flesh.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Lanhouin is a traditional fermented salted fish made by spontaneous, uncontrolled fermentation of whole salted cassava fish (Pseudotolithus). In a study of three fermentations the fish fermented for 3 to 8 days at 28-30 °C, led by Bacillus and Staphylococcus. Ripening makes the flesh softer and more aromatic. Made in 3 steps over 3.3 days – 8.4 days. The longest step, ferment at room temperature, takes 3–8 days (Anihouvi V.B 2007) and runs at 28–30 °C (Anihouvi V.B 2007). Salt is 10 % (Anihouvi V.B 2012). Bacillus and Staphylococcus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–8 daysReported[anihouvi2007]Ferment at room temperature
Temperature28–30 °CReported[anihouvi2007]Ferment at room temperature
Salt10 %Reported[anihouvi2012]Salt the fish
AciditypH 6.5–6.8Measured[anihouvi2012]Ripen the whole fish

What makes this one different

Lanhouin ferments whole salted cassava fish spontaneously, for days at room temperature, and Bacillus and Staphylococcus lead the ferment.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Marinated fillet pre-treatment (lab trial)In a lab trial on cassava-fish fillets, a 6 h marinade of 10 g/100 g salt and 2.5 g/100 g citric acid was the best tested; the dried fermented product from it had pH 4.43 and 9.8 g/100 g salt.

Safety

Histamine in the final product has been reported above the European limit, according to earlier work cited by Kindossi et al. (2016), and cooking or freezing cannot remove histamine once it has formed (FDA). In the makers' trials the fish sat unsalted for 8 to 10 hours, then fermented for days at 28–30 °C, so treat these steps as a record of the practice, not a tested home method. A lab trial found that marinating cassava fish fillets in salt and citric acid before processing lowered the pH.

Hazards the sources name: Histamine, above the level accepted under European rules in the final product, according to earlier work by Anihouvi and colleagues cited by Kindossi et al.; in a fermentation study it did not rise steadily with fermentation time; Enterobacteriaceae (10^2 cfu/g at the start, under 10 cfu/g after 2 days).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [anihouvi2007] Anihouvi V.B., Sakyi-Dawson E., Ayernor G.S., Hounhouigan J.D. 2007, Microbiological changes in naturally fermented cassava fish (Pseudotolithus sp.) for lanhouin production, Int. J. Food Microbiol. 116(2):287-291, doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2006.12.009 (abstract)paper
  2. [anihouvi2009] Anihouvi V.B., Sakyi-Dawson E., Ayernor G.S., Hounhouigan J.D. 2009, Biochemical changes and aroma development during the spontaneous fermentation of cassava fish into lanhouin and their influence on product acceptability, J. Aquatic Food Product Technology 18:370-384 (abstract)paper
  3. [kindossi2016] Kindossi J.M., Anihouvi V.B., Vieira-Dalodé G., Akissoé N.H., Hounhouigan D.J. 2016, Optimization of the marinating conditions of cassava fish (Pseudotolithus sp.) fillet for lanhouin production through application of Doehlert experimental design, Food Sci. Nutr. 4(2):261-268, doi:10.1002/fsn3.285paper
  4. [anihouvi2012] Anihouvi V.B., Toudonou H.J., Akissoe N.H., Hounhouigan J.D. 2012, Essai de mise au point d'un ferment pour la production artisanale du Lanhouin, un condiment à base de poisson fermenté au Bénin, Bulletin de la Recherche Agronomique du Bénin 72 (ripening trials with four makers; lab production trials at 28-30 °C)paper
  5. [fda-ch7] US FDA, Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, Chapter 7, Scombrotoxin (histamine) formationgov