Abstract
Striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) roe is used for the production of
traditional delicacies in Greece (avgotaracho), Japan (karasumi) and
Italy (botargo). In Greece avgotaracho is a Protected Designation of
Origin product and its special taste combined with its high nutritional
value of this rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and bioactive
compounds delicacy attracts many consumers. During the production of
avgotaracho and the similar products some of the egg sacs (skeins)
either break or have an inappropriate size (too small) and they can not
be used for avgotaracho production. On the other hand the nutritional
quality of the eggs in the broken or smaller skein is by no means
inferior comparing to the rest. Proper valorization of the mullet roe
by-products could lead to high nutrition value products. This work
focuses on examining the potential valorization of these high
nutritional value by-products for producing mullet roe oil. Three
different extraction methods with potential of scale-up are examined.
Namely pressure, supercritical extraction, solvent extraction are
examined where mild temperature conditions and (wherever applicable)
food-grade solvents are used. The oil yield, the composition of oils in
fatty acids by GC-FID, the level of oil oxidation (peroxide value,
p-anisidine value, K232 K268, TOTOX) and antioxidant activity (DPPH,
ABTS) are determined. The potential of the above extraction methods for
the production of mullet roe oil in terms of yield and oil quality is
discussed.