Odour of cooked silurus (Silurus glanis) flesh: evaluation by sensory analysis and comparison of collection methods to assess the odour representativeness of extracts obtained by dynamic headspace

The odour of silurus (Silurus glanis) coming from two types of rearing environment developed in France was studied. Odour sensory analysis was performed on cooked fillets of silurus. The odour representativeness of extracts obtained by dynamic headspace was assessed. Two methods of extract collection were compared. Rearing environment had an effect on the odour of cooked fillets of silurus. Silurus reared in outdoor ponds for 2 years with no renewal of water had a stronger odour of hay, cut grass and hot milk and a weaker odour of mouldy, hard‐boiled egg and cooked cabbage than silurus reared in indoor concrete ponds for 1 year with renewed geothermal water. Odour extracts collected with the Teflon bag method were more representative of the odour of cooked fillets of silurus than those collected with the glass flask method. Teflon bags showed the relevance of dynamic headspace extraction to analyse the odour of cooked fillets of silurus. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry