Effect of Season on the Sensory Quality of Sea Urchin (Evechinus chloroticus) Roe

ABSTRACT:  The influence of season, gender, and reproductive maturity on the sensory properties (appearance, odor, taste, flavor, texture/mouthfeel, and aftertaste) of roe from sea urchins ( Evechinus chloroticus ) was investigated. A trained sensory panel applied descriptive analysis, with a comprehensive sensory vocabulary of 35 descriptors to analyze sea urchin roe obtained from samples collected during the austral autumn, winter, summer, and spring, over a 2-y period. Sensory differences between genders were less pronounced in autumn (March to May) and winter (June to August) when more nutritive cells were present in the roe, and more pronounced over spring (September to November) and summer (December to February) months as the gametogenic cells matured. Roe from female sea urchins were commonly associated with sulfur odor, bitter taste, and metallic flavor, while roe from the male sea urchins were associated with sweet taste. During autumn, female roe were closest in sensory quality to male roe (least bitter and most sweet compared to other seasons), while there were little differences in sweetness and bitterness of male roe over the 4 seasons. Despite the relative size of the roe being lowest in autumn, it appeared to be the optimum season to harvest  E. chloroticus  sea urchins to obtain high-quality roe.