Extraction and analysis of free amino acids and 5′-nucleotides, the key contributors to the umami taste of seaweed

[Display omitted] •A method of analysis of free amino acids & nucleotides in seaweed is described.•The extraction method was developed to emulate the mouth environment.•Validation showed good linearity, resolution, sensitivity and precision.•The Equivalent Umami Concentration and Taste Activity...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food chemistry 2022-02, Vol.370, p.131352-131352, Article 131352
Main Authors: Moerdijk-Poortvliet, Tanja C.W., de Jong, Dylan L.C., Fremouw, Roy, de Reu, Sandra, de Winter, Jose M., Timmermans, Klaas, Mol, Geert, Reuter, Norbert, Derksen, Goverdina C.H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Equivalent umami concentration
Food acceptance
Macroalgae
Mouth emulating extraction
Taste profiling
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Summary:[Display omitted] •A method of analysis of free amino acids & nucleotides in seaweed is described.•The extraction method was developed to emulate the mouth environment.•Validation showed good linearity, resolution, sensitivity and precision.•The Equivalent Umami Concentration and Taste Activity Values of 7 Dutch seaweeds were determined. Assessing the umami taste of seaweed on a chemical level can inform the use and selection of seaweed in European cuisine. Accordingly, we developed a method for the simultaneous extraction, separate clean-up and analysis of 21 free amino acids and 10 free nucleotides by reversed phase and mixed-mode HPLC respectively. Of multiple mouth emulating solvents, extracting in Milli-Q at 35 °C was found most suitable. This method showed good linearity (R2 > 0.9996), resolution (Rs ≥ 1.5) and picomole detection limits, and was successfully applied to determine the Equivalent Umami Concentration (EUC) and Taste Activity Values (TAV) of seven Dutch seaweed species. Phaeophyceae showed the highest EUC, followed by Chlorophyceae and Rhodophyceae (≈ 9.5, 3.7 and 1.1 g/100 g respectively). Glutamic acid always exceeded the TAV, while other umami compounds were species specific. Our method can accurately predict umami intensity and therefore contributes towards species selection for the European palette.
ISSN:0308-8146
1873-7072
DOI:10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131352