Abstract
Caviar is considered a delicacy by luxury product consumers, but few data are available about its flavour chemistry to date. In this study, a multiple headspace-solid phase microextraction (MHS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) approach was developed and employed to identify and quantitatively estimate key volatile organic compounds (VOCs) representative in white sturgeon (A. transmontanus) caviar at five different stages of ripening: raw eggs (t0), after 60 days (t1), 120 days (t2), 180 days (t3), and 240 days (t4) of ripening. The method showed the ability to detect and estimate the quantity of 25 flavour compounds, without any severe alteration of the matrix before the analysis and in a short time. The VOCs detected as representative in caviar samples were primarily aldehydes and alcohols, already well known as responsible of fresh fish and seafood flavours, and mainly deriving from lipid peroxidation processes and microbial activity against lipids and amino acids. We found a significant (p < 0.01) increase in the amount of total aldehydes within t0 (29.64 ng/g) and t4 (121.96 ng/g); moreover, an interesting, great arise of 3-hydroxy-2-butanone at the final stage of storage (48.17 ng/g) was recorded. Alcohols were not detected in raw eggs (t0) and then a decrease from t1 (17.77 ng/g) to t4 (10.18 ng/g) was recorded in their amount, with no statistical significance.
Highlights
Caviar is defined as the product made from fish eggs of the Acipenseridae family by treating with food grade salt [1]
A method for the determination of caviar volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by mean of multiple headspace (MHS)-Solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to GC–MS was developed and employed, showing the ability to identify and quantify VOCs in samples without any severe alteration of the matrix before the analysis and in a relatively short time
The relatively small number of compounds detected in caviar, if compared with the results obtained in previous studies on other fish products by headspace sampling techniques, may be because the storage conditions of analysed caviar samples were not so favourable for the microbial and enzymatic activities generally responsible for VOCs formation, as previously discussed
Summary
Caviar is defined as the product made from fish eggs of the Acipenseridae family by treating with food grade salt [1]. Species (CITES) [3] and, starting from 2006, CITES has no longer issued any quota for the marketing of caviar from wild stocks, catches for caviar production are completely forbidden nowadays. European sturgeon farmers in 2017 produced about 140 tons of caviar, with Italy as production leader with 43 tons, followed by France, Poland and Germany [2]. In such a scenario, the quality assurance and a solid characterisation of caviar as a precious product appear as fundamental issues for the safeguard of the Italian and European markets.
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