Crab Paste Fermentation Process

Live seven swimming crabs (205.69 ± 17.25 g) were purchased from a crab aquafarm in Ningbo, China and anaesthetized on ice. Each crab was cleaned using tap water and cut into pieces immediately. For crab paste processing, the crab pieces were mixed with 4% sucrose, 2% salt, 1% monosodium glutamate, and 1% white liquor with 40% ethanol and were packaged in an airtight plastic bag for 7 days-fermentation at 4°C. The samples were respectively taken at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days of fermentation and the fresh crab samples were used as control. All samples were stored at −80°C for further analysis.