Background and Aims: Mesocentrotus nudus is commercially harvested from shallow rocky bottoms in northern Japan. The gonads are targeted as an edible product. The objective of this study was to identify odor-active volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the gonads of adult M. nudus collected at a fishing ground in Miyagi Prefecture, Tohoku, Japan. Methods and Results: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis and gas chromatography-sniffing techniques identified 42 compounds categorized as alcohols, aldehydes, aromatic hydrocarbons, esters, halomethanes, hydrocarbons, ketones, sulfur-containing compounds, and nitrogen-containing compounds. GC-sniffing analysis characterized four compounds with preferable odors of sea urchin gonads; limonene, propyl acetate, acetone, dibromochloromethane. On the other hand, the analysis characterized three compounds with unpreferable odors; methyl mercaptane, dimethyl sulfide, and s-methyl thioacetate. Several VOCs from the gonads were derived from seaweeds, terrestrial plants, and fish flesh as food because M. nudus is omnivorous. Conclusion: This is the first study to identify VOCs from edible sea urchin gonads in the wild in Japan. These VOC data comprise a typical standard in order to evaluate a higher quality of sea urchin gonads.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.