A research study was conducted at a contract research facility located in Stuttgart, AR and the sensory lab located in Marshall, MN with a third-party sensory research company, to evaluate the effects of an essential oil feed additive on fish fillet flavor. ONE CURRENT® is a proprietary feed additive that contains a patent pending blend of phytonutrients including Microfused® Essential Oils, Actifibe® Prebiotic and yucca schidigara . The product is a natural daily feed additive that increased fish growth, decreased mortality during challenge and enhanced protection against disease demonstrated in previously published research.
Hybrid striped bass are considered a mild white fish that produce a fillet with a delicate, slightly sweet flavor. These fish are raised in conditions that ensure adequate aeration and strict water quality control to ensure consistent flavor. They are considered versatile fish adaptable to most cooking methods and popular in white tablecloth restaurants. Because of their delicate mild flavor, researchers wanted to ensure that including an essential oil-based feed additive would not impact the flavor of the fish fillets.
Multiple studies have been conducted looking at the impacts of essential oils on meat quality and organoleptic properties of food including chicken breast meat and found no difference in the flavor of breast meat between birds fed various combinations of essential oils as compared to a control diet or found positive impacts on chicken breast flavor and acceptability.
This study was conducted to determine if the combination of essential oils in ONE CURRENT® impacted the organoleptic properties of hybrid striped bass fish fillets after being fed a diet containing the feed additive for 48 days.
After the 48-day feeding portion of the study, t he fish were euthanized, filleted, flash frozen and shipped overnight to the sensory lab. Participants were recruited for a blinded sensory evaluation test and served fish fillets prepared with no seasoning or breading to equally compare samples. Under the conditions of this study, adding the phytonutrient feed additive to a standard commercial diet fed to fish for 48 days had no impact on fish fillet flavor.