Effects of the Addition of Glutamic Acid and Glucose to Wet Gluten on the Volatile Compounds in Deep-Fried Gluten Balls

Abstract

Wet gluten for producing deep-fried gluten balls was obtained by washing wheat flour with water. After adding glutamic acid and glucose, the wet gluten was cut and shaped into balls and deep-fried in soybean oil for deep-frying. The frying process proceeded for eight hours per day for twelve days. The balls deep-fried on the first and the twelfth days were stored in an oven at 60℃ for eight weeks. The volatile compounds in the balls isolated by Likens-Nickerson steam distillation and dichloromethane extraction were analyzed by using gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to investigate the effects of the addition of glutamic acid and glucose on the flavor change in the balls during storage. The results showed that the total amount of volatile compounds isolated from the deep-fried gluten balls obtained in the first-day frying and prepared with the addition of glutamic acid and glucose was larger than that from those prepared without the addition of these two substances. When the frying oil was used continuously for twelve days, the total amounts of volatile compounds isolated from the balls prepared with and without the addition of the acid and glucose were very similar. However, when the balls obtained on the twelfth day were stored for four or eight weeks, the total amount of volatile compounds isolated from the balls with the addition of these substances was smaller than that from those prepared without such additions.