FLAVOR-QUALITY CONTROL IN FRESH-WATER AQUACULTURE

Maintaining the flavor quality of products produced in an aquaculture system is the most important technical challenge to the industry. Rout ine instrumental monitoring of flavor quality is difficult because the problematic compounds (geosmin and 2-methyrisoborneol) can be detecte d by humans at concentrations that are not easily measured by instrume nts. In addition, many off-flavor compounds have not been identified. Although analytical sensory methods are more reliable and timely, they have their own set of problems, such as the expense of operating sens ory panels. A seafood rating method is presented that has the advantag e of being reliable, timely, and less expensive to operate; however th is method can also fail to detect off-flavored fish.