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Quality Criteria for Salmon Caviar

 

Problem:The salmon caviar industry is one of the fastest growing value added sectors of the seafood industry. Since 1990, annual volume has increased from 1,000 MT to 4,500 MT with an estimated value of $55 million. However, each year, thousands of pounds of finished product are often rejected by buyers for many defects. Among the most frequent complaints are limited shelf life and poor sensory characteristics. Caviar is also a ready to eat (RTE) product that has many food safety concerns. Because of minimal processing, there is great potential of contamination from food-borne pathogens. Insuring the safety of caviar through better understanding of the raw material and application of food preservation steps is necessary.

Solution & Approach: A baseline of bacteria present in raw caviar processing was developed. We tested implementation of pasteurization to kill the vegetative cells of food borne pathogens. A 7D pasteurization processes were developed from heat penetration data. The pasteurized product was evaluated for quality and acceptability. We also tested the use of various additives known to reduce bacterial levels. Using caviar produced from fresh salmon using the hand screening method, a baseline sensory profile was developed and the effects of extrinsic conditions on sensory characteristics was determined. We investigated the sensory differences between hand screened and enzyme processed caviar. Since most salmon caviar is frozen, sensory changes during frozen storage was also monitored.

Principal Investigator: Chuck Crapo