Volatile Organic Compounds Profile in White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) Caviar at Different Stages of Ripening by Multiple Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction

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.

The Role of Lipid Composition in the Sensory Attributes and Acceptability of the Salted and Dried Mullet Roes (Bottarga): A Study in Human and Animal Models

“…The flavor chemistry of salted and dried fish roe products is quite complex because browning reaction, lipid oxidation, endogenous enzymes and microbial activity contribute to the development of the final flavor profile [ 1 , 10 ], and salting- and drying-induced proteolysis and lipolysis [ 10 ] are important feature for flavor development. Recently, a series of volatile organic flavor compounds, primarily aldehydes and alcohols, was detected in caviar samples as responsible for flavors of fresh fish and seafood, principally deriving from the oxidation of lipid compounds and microbial activity versus amino acids and lipids [ 36 ]. Losses of volatile components from a food matrix are usually induced by the process of drying, in relation to several factors (processing temperature, quantity of solids in the food, and vapor pressure of volatile compounds) [ 37 ].…”

Evolution of Food Safety Features and Volatile Profile in White Sturgeon Caviar Treated with Different Formulations of Salt and Preservatives during a Long-Term Storage Time

“…Others were merely detected during the progression of the storage, as an outcome of the ripening processes: 2-methylbutanal, 3-methylsulfanylpropanal, heptanal, 2-hexenal, 2-nonenal, 4-methyl-1-heptanol, 6-methyl-1-octanol, and 1-phenylethanone. Most of these compounds are known to belong to the typical volatile profile of fish products, as all of them had been previously found as characteristic volatile in fish products [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ], and also in ripened fish roes [ 18 , 33 , 34 ]. 2-methylbutanal, 3-methylbutanal, 2-phenylacetalhdehyde, and 3-methylsulfanylpropanal are Strecker aldehydes, known to be formed by the breakdown of amino acids: isoleucine for 2-methylbutanal, leucine for 3-methylbutanal and phenylalanine, and methionine for 2-phenyalcetaldehyde and 3-methylsulfanylpropanal [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ].…”

“…VOCs were extracted by means of the solid phase microextraction (SPME) technique employed on the sample headspace (HS); then, analytes were separated and identified by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The analytical conditions (SPME, GC, and MS parameters) were set according to the optimization used in Lopez et al [ 18 ]. Briefly, DVB/CAR/PDMS 1 cm SPME fibers (Supelco) were used for the HS extraction, performed for 30 min at 60 °C.…”