Production of high quality gonads in the sea urchin Mesocentrotus nudus (A. Agassiz, 1864) from a barren by feeding on the kelp Saccharina japonica at the late sporophyte stage

Odor-active compounds from the gonads of Mesocentrotus nudus sea urchins fed Saccharina japonica kelp

“…Headspace sampling, GC-MS analysis and GC-sniffing analysis were conducted according to Sato et al [18] within 48 hours after dissection. Takagi et al [8] showed no significant differences in test diameter among these sea urchins (CSU, ESU and BSU), and almost the gonads were in the growing stage.…”

“…Japan is the largest consumer of sea urchin gonads in the world, accounting for approximately 90% of the total world sea urchin landing [6]. Past studies revealed that gonads with large size, bright orange or yellow color, medium hardness, high sweet-tasting alanine and low bitter-tasting arginine contents are preferred [7][8][9]. The factors concerned with gonad quality have been studied [10][11][12][13].…”

“…Recently, research on the improvement of the gonad quality of M. nudus from barrens by short-term culture techniques has been concentrated on in northern Japan [13,23]. Takagi et al [8] first improved the whole gonad quality (size, color, texture and taste) of barren individuals to a more desirable level compared to that of individuals from an Eisenia kelp bed (fishing ground) by feeding them fresh cultivated Saccharina japonica during May-July. They evaluated that the gonad smell of sea urchins fed S. japonica and that of those collected from an Eisenia kelp bed were more desirable than that of those from a barren, as determined by a panel test [8].…”

“…Takagi et al [8] first improved the whole gonad quality (size, color, texture and taste) of barren individuals to a more desirable level compared to that of individuals from an Eisenia kelp bed (fishing ground) by feeding them fresh cultivated Saccharina japonica during May-July. They evaluated that the gonad smell of sea urchins fed S. japonica and that of those collected from an Eisenia kelp bed were more desirable than that of those from a barren, as determined by a panel test [8]. The results suggested that the odor-active compounds in gonads could vary in accordance with their habitats.…”

“…After feeding, the odoractive volatile compounds of the gonads were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and GC-sniffing methods and compared to those from the urchin gonads collected from an Eisenia kelp bed and a barren. Takagi et al [8] conducted a sensory evaluation and measurements and analyses of gonad size, developmental stages, color, texture and free amino acid contents of sea urchins cultured and collected from the same algal beds by the same methods on the same day with the present study. The purpose of this study is to (1) clarify the effect of S. japonica feeding to improve gonad flavor of sea urchins from a barren and (2) identify the compounds with sea urchin like aroma.…”