NONVOLATILE TASTE COMPOUNDS OF JIANGLUOBO (A TRADITIONAL CHINESE FERMENTED FOOD)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Jiangluobo, an indigenous fermented food, is currently available in south China for use as food and food‐flavoring materials. The nonvolatile components were studied by high performance liquid chromatography. Their taste impacts were evaluated by taste active values (TAVs) and equivalent umami concentration (EUC) methods. Compared with salted radish, Jiangluobo was high in contents of carbohydrate, crude protein and crude fat. Glucose, xylose and fructose were detected in Jiangluobo and total amounts of sugars were 148.95 mg/g dry weight. The total free amino acids content of Jiangluobo was 22.42 mg/g dry weight and monosodium glutamate (MSG)‐like components was high (8.10 mg/g dry weight). The contents of flavor 5′‐nucleotides were also high in Jiangluobo (105.47 mg/100 g dry weight). Glucose, xylose, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and disodium 5′‐guanosine monophosphate (GMP) were of high TAVs (greater than one), and they had strong taste impacts on the flavor of Jiangluobo. The EUC was 116.81 g MSG/100 g Jiangluobo, which meant that the umami taste of the Jiangluobo was very intense. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Jiangluobo is one of the most important traditional fermented foods in south China, and its important quality aspects are nonvolatile components. The nonvolatile taste components are of great significance for further development of its processing into high quality consumer products. The main objectives of this study are to investigate the nonvolatile taste composition and evaluate their taste impacts by taste active values and equivalent umami concentration methods. The information obtained from this study could be used as a guideline for optimizing the process conditions to control the quality of Jiangluobo.