## 3 Results and Discussion
The changes In the moisture contents during the ripening of anchovies stored at refrigerated temperatures for both groups are represented in Figure 2. The main purpose of salting fish is to decrease its moisture content, leading to a reduced a\({}_{\text{w}}\) of the products. The moisture contents of brined samples significantly dropped in parallel to increasing salt concentration levels in brine, except at 10% (\(p<0.05\)). There were strong negative correlations between salt and moisture contents, and moisture content and a\({}_{\text{w}}\) values for all subgroups of the control with the correlation coefficient results varied in R\({}^{2}\): 0.73-0.99 and R\({}^{2}\): 0.70-0.99, respectively, with the lowest correlations represented by samples primed at 10% (Table 1 and Supplementary Tables S2 and S3). The freezing and frozen storage of raw materials prior to processing significantly affected the salt uptake, and also decreased the moisture contents and a\({}_{\text{w}}\) (\(p<0.05\)). However, the correlation was slightly weaker for the experimental group, standing at R\({}^{2}\): 0.69-0.97 and R\({}^{2}\): 0.78-0.98, in the same respect (Table 1 and Supplementary Tables S2 and S3). Figure 2: _Cont._  
Figure 2: The results for moisture, pH, a\({}_{w}\), salt (%), and WPS (%) of dry-salted and brined anchovies during storage. (**a**) Moisture results of the control group; (**b**) Moisture results of the experimental group (prepared from frozen material); (**c**) pH results of the control group; (**d**) pH results of the experimental group (prepared from frozen material); I a\({}_{w}\) results of the control group; (**f**) a\({}_{w}\) results of the experimental group (prepared from frozen material); (**g**) salt (%) results of the control group; (**h**) salt (%) results of the experimental group (prepared from frozen material); (**i**) WPS (%) results of the control group; (**j**) WPS (%) results of the experimental group (prepared from frozen material). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Sample Type**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Sal\%–a\({}_{w}\)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Sal\%–Moisture\%**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Moisture\%–a\({}_{w}\)**} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **C** & **FM** & **C** & **FM** & **C** & **FM** \\ \hline
10\% & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.99 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.96 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.73 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.86 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.70 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.78 \\
15\% & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.99 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.96 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.99 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.76 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.97 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.86 \\
20\% & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.99 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.98 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.93 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.96 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.92 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.80 \\
25\% & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.98 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.85 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.93 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.71 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.93 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.82 \\
30\% & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.98 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.85 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.98 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.69 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.99 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.80 \\ DS & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.99 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.99 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.90 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.97 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.92 & R\({}^{2}\) = 0.98 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* C: control group; FM: experimental group; a\({}_{w}\): water activity; DS: dry-salted.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Correlation results among the values of salt %, moisture % and water activity for the control and experimental groups during storage in the refrigerator (4 \(\pm\) 1 \({}^{\circ}\)C). There were significant differences in moisture contents after the treatments using different salt concentrations and salting methods (_p_ < 0.05). Moreover, the reduction in the percentage of moisture was significantly faster for dry-salted fish than for brined fish (_p_ < 0.05). The changes in moisture contents of brined samples were usually insignificant after the 2 nd week for the control group relating to 20, 25 and 30% salt concentrations, with some exceptions. The changes in the brined samples for the experimental group were usually slower and stabilized after the 1 st week, with some exceptions.