Quality Improvement of Zhayu, a Fermented Fish Product in China: Effects of Inoculated Fermentation with Three Kinds of Lactic Acid Bacteria  
[PERSON]  
1 College of Food Science and Technology/National R&D Branch Center for Conventional Freshwater Fish Processing (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China 12 Engineering Research Center of Green Development for Conventional Aquatic Biological Industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430070, China 2  
[PERSON]  
1 College of Food Science and Technology/National R&D Branch Center for Conventional Freshwater Fish Processing (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China 1  
[PERSON]  
1 College of Food Science and Technology/National R&D Branch Center for Conventional Freshwater Fish Processing (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China 1  
[PERSON]  
1 College of Food Science and Technology/National R&D Branch Center for Conventional Freshwater Fish Processing (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China 12 Engineering Research Center of Green Development for Conventional Aquatic Biological Industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430070, China 2  
[PERSON]  
1 College of Food Science and Technology/National R&D Branch Center for Conventional Freshwater Fish Processing (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China 1  
[PERSON]  
1 College of Food Science and Technology/National R&D Branch Center for Conventional Freshwater Fish Processing (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China 12 Engineering Research Center of Green Development for Conventional Aquatic Biological Industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430070, China 2  
[PERSON]  
1 College of Food Science and Technology/National R&D Branch Center for Conventional Freshwater Fish Processing (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China 1  
Footnote 1: [[https://www.mdpi.com/journal/foods](https://www.mdpi.com/journal/foods)]([https://www.mdpi.com/journal/foods](https://www.mdpi.com/journal/foods))  
Footnote 2: [[https://www.mdpi.com/journals/201](https://www.mdpi.com/journals/201)]([https://www.mdpi.com/journals/201](https://www.mdpi.com/journals/201))  
Traditional fermented fish products were usually manufactured by spontaneous fermentation without the addition of starter cultures in small-scale processing units. However, the conditions of spontaneous fermentation were difficult to control, resulting in unequal qualities of fermented fish products, which was not conducive to their industrial production. To solve this problem, yeast, mold, and bacteria (especially lactic acid bacteria and staphylococci) have been used as starter cultures for fermented fish products [12; 13; 14]. Fermentation with starter cultures not only shortens the fermentation time and prolongs the storage time of fermented products, but also improves the flavor, color, safety, and nutritional qualities of the products [15; 16]. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), especially _Lactiplantibacillus plantarum_ and _Pediococcus pentosaceus_, have been isolated and identified as the dominant strains in Zhayu [17]. Moreover, _Pediococcus acidilactici_ is also an important LAB in fermented fish or meat products [13; 18]. LAB can reduce the pH value of the fermented product and inhibit the growth of spoilage microorganisms in the product [6; 15]. LAB can also decrease the content of nitrite in fermented aquatic products and improve the safety quality of the product [19]. Moreover, LAB has been shown to make fermented sausage show better flavor properties [20]. Therefore, LAB could be used as a starter culture of Zhayu to improve its qualities. However, the effects of LAB species and inoculation amounts on the improvement of the qualities of Zhayu remain to be further studied. In the present study, fermented Zhayu samples were prepared by inoculation with different amounts of _Lactiplantibacillus plantarum_ (_L.