Beluga Caviar or Beluga Sturgeon Caviar comes from the Beluga (huso huso) Sturgeon, which is a silvery-grey coloured Sturgeon and is the largest of all Sturgeons. The Beluga Sturgeons have been known to grow up to 6 meters/20 feet in length and can weigh as much as 600kg/1,323lbs however; it is very rare to find a Beluga Sturgeon of this size, these days, because of modern, aggressive fishing techniques. The mouth of the full-grown adult Beluga Sturgeon can be up to 25cm/10in wide. The Beluga Sturgeon has a large, compact head, pointed snout, and instead of whiskers, it has two sets of barbels under its mouth, which the Beluga Sturgeon uses to locate its food. Unlike other Sturgeons, the Beluga Sturgeon loses its bony scales, along its body length, after it’s a few months old.
Up to 25 percent of the Beluga Sturgeon’s body mass can consist of eggs and because of its immense size, the Beluga caviar has the largest eggs which are prized for their large grain and fine skin. The eggs range in color from light grey to almost black and although the flavour of the Beluga Caviar should not be affected by the egg color, the lightest grey Beluga Caviar is the most prized.