Sensory Characteristics of Dried and Rehydrated Sea Urchin Tripneustes gratilla Roe with Different Steaming Times as Pre-Treatment

Abstract

Sea urchin roe, as raw material, is highly perishable and is usually served raw or fresh. Therefore, preserving the freshness of the raw products by maintaining good sensory characteristics, such as appearance/color, odor, flavor, texture, and general acceptability, during distribution has been a concern of local producers. Here, we evaluated the sensory characteristics of dried, rehydrated, and fresh (control) sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla roe under different steaming times: 1 min, 2 min, and 3 min. Roe samples were evaluated for sensory characteristics, i.e., color, odor, texture, flavor, and general acceptability, by the panelists using a 3-point hedonic scale. Findings revealed that there were no significant differences (p<0.05) among general acceptability, texture, and flavor scores between sea urchin roes’ processed forms (dried, rehydrated, and fresh) and steaming time (1, 2, and 3 min). However, in terms of color, the dried roe was significantly different (p<0.05) from the fresh roe but not from the rehydrated roe, while no significant change (p<0.05) in color was noted between different steaming times. For odor attribute, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the processed forms, where fresh roe was significantly different (p<0.05) from dried and rehydrated roes, but steaming time did not significantly affect (p>0.05) the roes’ odor. This study suggests that steaming for 1-3 min as pre-treatment for dried, rehydrated, and fresh sea urchin T. gratilla roe generally renders good sensory attributes. It also indicates that drying and rehydration of steamed sea urchin roe could be used as preservation techniques for a fragile and perishable sea urchin T. gratilla roe. However, further analyses are needed, particularly on the shelf-life and proximate and microbial analyses.