Sensory characteristics of caviar from wild and farmed sturgeon

Abstract

The sensory characteristics of caviar were evaluated and compared in reared and wild sturgeon, using a trained IFREMER panel to determine the sensory profile. The most relevant and discriminative sensory descriptors were selected to describe the appearance, odour, flavour, and texture of caviar before the testing of samples. Caviar from the reared sturgeon Acipenser baeri was compared with that of other species such as A. stellatus and A. gueldenstaedti. The farming effect was studied by comparing caviar processed in the same conditions from reared and wild sturgeon using A. stellatus females obtained from a rearing pond and the Danube River, respectively. Although these preliminary results did not allow separate analyses of the species effect and the processing parameters, the sensory properties for this range of products appeared to have been more affected by the species than hy the rearing factor. One of the must important effects observed on caviar from reared sturgeon (A. baeri or A. stellatus) was the earthy taste. However, a comparison of cavicar from reared A. baeri showed that this earthy taste was not necesarily specific to farming conditions.