Identification of the Non-Volatile Taste-Active Components in Crab Sauce

Liu Liu,Wang Wang,Xia Xia,Chen Chen

doi:10.3390/foods8080324

Abstract

Crab sauce is a traditional umami seasoning in the coastal cities in South East China. The putative non-volatile taste-active components in crab sauce were measured, and their impacts on the taste were evaluated on the basis of the taste activity value (TAV), omission test, addition test and equivalent umami concentration (EUC). The EUC used to evaluate the synergistic effect of the flavor nucleotides and umami amino acids was 19.3 g monosodium glutamate (MSG)/100 mL, which illuminated that crab sauce had a very intense umami taste. The key non-volatile taste-active components in crab sauce demonstrated by the omission test and addition test were glutamic acid (Glu), aspartic acid (Asp), glycine (Gly), alanine (Ala), lysine (Lys), histidine (His), 5′-inosine monophosphate (IMP), 5′-guanosine monophosphate (GMP), NaCl, KCl, serine (Ser) and valine (Val), and most of these components also had a higher TAV. So, the TAV could be a high-efficiency tool to predict the taste-active components, and the TAV combined with the omission test and addition test could be a very useful method to determine the taste-active components in crab sauce.

Highlights

Crab sauce is a traditional umami seasoning in the coastal cities in South East China
Some reports showed that flavor nucleotides and monosodium glutamate (MSG)-like amino acids could have a synergistic effect [11], and the equivalent umami concentration (EUC) was effectively used to measure this synergistic effect in lots of food matrices [9,11,12,13]
The EUC means that the umami intensity given by the mixture of monosodium glutamate (MSG)-like amino acids and flavor nucleotides is equivalent to the concentration of MSG

Summary

Introduction

Crab sauce is a traditional umami seasoning in the coastal cities in South East China. Crab sauce provides rich nutrients, and contributes a pleasant umami taste to the food [2,3,4,5], it is favored by the local people and tourists. Some reports showed that flavor nucleotides and MSG-like amino acids could have a synergistic effect [11], and the equivalent umami concentration (EUC) was effectively used to measure this synergistic effect in lots of food matrices [9,11,12,13]. The EUC means that the umami intensity given by the mixture of monosodium glutamate (MSG)-like amino acids (glutamic acid and aspartic acid) and flavor nucleotides is equivalent to the concentration of MSG. Due to the synergistic effect, aquatic products contribute a strong umami taste and have higher EUCs [4,14]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion