Most of the world’s caviar comes from the icy waters of the Caspian Sea where the environment is most conducive to producing the finest sturgeon. Ninety percent of the caviar produced in the world comes from the Caspian Sea.

Sturgeons have an unerring survival instinct. These bottom-dwellers with their sensitive and pointy snouts have existed for millennia. Even to this day, relatives of the sturgeon live in the black depths of the ocean. Sturgeon have no scales, except for five rows of large pointed, plate-like scales running along the top and sides of the body. Their skeleton is part bone and part cartilage, placing them midway between sharks and bony fish.

There are almost 20 different types of sturgeon, two of them belong to the genus Huso, and the others are of the genus Acipenser. Six of them live in the Caspian Sea; only three sturgeons produce this exquisite caviar; Beluga, Osetra and Sevruga.

Sturgeon can live for 100 years and reach maturity between 12 and 20 years of age. This is one of the many reasons why the Beluga sturgeon is so expensive, not only because of its rarity, but because it takes time to produce eggs. No caviar of any species is considered superior to another; the caviar of each species is prized and preferred for its individual characteristics.

Nutritious facts about Caviar:         

Apart from its gastronomic appeal, caviar no doubt offers other qualities.

Caviar definitely has nutritional value containing roughly 47 vitamins and minerals and there are only 74 calories in an ounce of caviar.

Sevruga for example is composed of:

Water     51.5%

Protein     28.0%

Fat     16.0%

Sugar     1.5%

Vitamins, Mineral, Salts, etc.     3.0%