The formation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in ®sh sauce was investigated. When ®sh were allowed to spoil prior to salting, very high concentrations of VFAs were produced. The increase was probably caused by microbial action. Addition of salt to spoiled ®sh seemed to inhibit microbial action, thus suppressing the formation of VFAs. The contents of short and long straight chain VFAs in aerobically fermented sauces were signi®cantly higher than in anaerobically fermented sauces, suggesting that straight chain VFAs developed from ®sh fats. Certain branched VFAs were derived from the degradation of speci®c amino acids, such as isobutyric acid from valine and isovaleric acid from leucine. Alanine and isoleucine did not have a clear in¯uence on the production of VFAs.