Taste evaluation of grilled eel produced by hatchery-based aquaculture

Abstract

We conducted sensory evaluation and physicochemical analyses of grilled Japanese eel Anguilla japonica farmed by hatchery-based aquaculture (HBA) following controlled captive reproduction. A total of 4939 artificial glass eels were reared in a commercial farm in Shizuoka, Japan for 12 months among which 50 adults (201 g average body weight) were grilled without sauce in a continuous two-sided grilling machine. Eels cultured by capture-based aquaculture (CBA) from seedlings of wild-caught glass eels in the same farm, were used as controls. Sensory evaluation showed that HBA grilled eels had a more fatty taste and harder texture than CBA grilled eels did. Chemical analyses revealed no significant difference in crude fat content between HBA and CBA eels, but the CBA eels contained more n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, possibly influencing the evaluation of fatty taste. Texture analysis indicated significantly harder flesh and skin in HBA than CBA eels, corresponding to the sensory evaluation. This information should be useful for product development of HBA eels.