The Taste of Fish and Shellfish - ACS Symposium Series (ACS

8 The Taste of Fish and Shellfish SHOJI KONOSU

Downloaded by UNIV OF CINCINNATI on May 19, 2016 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: December 14, 1979 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1979-0115.ch008

Laboratory of Marine Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

In Japan, a wide variety of marine products, such as algae, molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms, and fish have been consumed with relish from olden times. These food habits have stimulated many studies on the extractive components which may contribute to the taste of these products. Several comprehensive reviews on the subject are available (1-8). In order to avoid overlapping with them, special references are made in this review to those compo nents whose roles in producing the taste of fish and shellfish have been examined organoleptically. Taste-active Components in Fish Enormous efforts have been devoted to the analysis of the ex tractive components of fish muscles and much information has been accumulated. In recent years, the distribution of nitrogenous components in the muscle extracts of several species of fish has been elucidated almost completely (9, 10, 11, 12, 13). However, few studies have correlated these analytical data directly with taste. In this section, only the taste-producing properties of hypo xanthine and histidine in fish will be reviewed. For other components, r e f e r to the e x c e l l e n t reviews by Jones (14, 15). Hypoxanthine. In f i s h muscles, IMP i s accumulated as a post mortem degradation product of muscle ATP. I t has been p o s t u l a t e d by Hashimoto (2) that IMP thus accumulated, i n combination w i t h glutamic a c i d , forms the nucleus of the t a s t e of f i s h meat. IMP i s then slowly degraded to hypoxanthine through i n o s i n e . According to Jones (14), i n o s i n e was b a r e l y d e t e c t a b l e by t r a i n e d or untrained p a l a t e s a t the maximum concentrations present i n cod muscle, and d e s c r i p t i o n of the t a s t e ranged from sweet to a c i d a s t r i n g e n t . U n l i k e i n o s i n e , however, hypoxanthine has a s t r o n g l y b i t t e r t a s t e . Jones (14) has described the b i t t e r t a s t e of cod muscle appearing a f t e r c h i l l storage f o r 10 days as being a t t r i b u t a b l e to hypoxanthine. 0-8412-0526-4/79/47-115-185$05.00/0 © 1979 American Chemical Society Boudreau; Food Taste Chemistry ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1979.


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In t h i s connection, an i n t e r e s t i n g p r o p e r t y o f hypoxanthine has been found by S p i n e l l i (16). In d i l u t e s o l u t i o n s i t produced a v a r i e t y of t a s t e s e n s a t i o n s , the predominating ones being b i t t e r ness o r dryness. E i g h t of ten p a n e l i s t s found i t to be b i t t e r a t a c o n c e n t r a t i o n of 0.01% i n d i s t i l l e d water. A d d i t i o n of 3-6 ymol of hypoxanthine t o one g (0.4-0.8%) of f r e s h o r i r r a d i a t e d and stored p e t r a l e s o l e , Eopsetta j o r d a n i , having a b a c t e r i a l count of l e s s than 1 0 " / g , d i d not produce a c o n s i s t e n t l y d e t e c t a b l e change i n f l a v o r . However, when the b a c t e r i a l counts exceeded 10 /g, a change was d e t e c t a b l e . From these r e s u l t s , S p i n e l l i suspected that b a c t e r i a l growth changed the f l a v o r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of hypoxanthine by u t i l i z i n g o r a l t e r i n g some c o n s t i t u e n t s of f i s h muscle that normally mask i t s f l a v o r , o r by producing metabolic products that enhance i t s f l a v o r . T h i s f i n d i n g c a u t i o n s us that the t a s t e potency of a component i n foods should not be assessed s o l e l y from i t s t a s t e i n pure s o l u t i o n . H i s t i d i n e . As shown i n Table I , scombroid f i s h , such as tuna, s k i p j a c k , and mackerel, c o n t a i n a l a r g e amount of f r e e h i s t i d i n e i n t h e i r muscle ( 7 ) . Opinions on the c o n t r i b u t i o n of Table I . Free amino a c i d s i n the muscle of some scombroid f i s h (mg/100g) Mackerel Glycine Alanine Valine Leucine Isoleucine Proline Phenylalanine Tyrosine Serine Threonine Methinonine Arginine Histidine Lysine Aspartic acid Glutamic a c i d Taurine

15.8 22.2 1.4 4.7 0.9

3.0 5.5

+ 8.1 2.5

+ 781 17.1 2.3 17.8

+

Big-eye Y e l l o w f i n tuna tuna 11.0 21.5 14.3 10.8 5.8 2.0 4.6 5.5 5.2 7.7 9.0 0.4 745 3.8 1.0 19.9 21.1

+ , t r a c e ; -, not d e t e c t e d .

3.1 6.6 6.7 7.1 3.1 1.6 1.5 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.1 0.6 1220 35.2 1.1 3.3 26.4

Skipjack Y e l l o w t a i l 8.9 22.6 4.1 3.4 2.0

+ 2.5 2.5 3.1 3.8 1.4 1110 11.2 2.9 7.0 16.1

3.7- 6.1 13.9-27.5 2.6-10.2 3.1-12.4 1.8- 6.7 0.9-48.2 1.9- 4.7 1.7- 6.1 4.3- 6.8 2.9-10.9

+ 1010-1220 61.7-90.1 5.1-27.9 25.1-89.7 Suisangaku Series

From Suyama (_7). t h i s amino a c i d t o the f l a v o r , however, vary. Simidu et_ a l . (17, 18) p o s t u l a t e d that the amino a c i d may p a r t i c i p a t e i n the f l a v o r of these f i s h , s i n c e the more p a l a t a b l e s p e c i e s c o n t a i n more f r e e

Boudreau; Food Taste Chemistry ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1979.


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h i s t i d i n e i n the muscle, and the post mortem changes i n the p a l a t a b i l i t y of such f i s h as tuna and s k i p j a c k run p a r a l l e l to the changes i n t h e i r f r e e h i s t i d i n e content. Endo et a l . (19) have a l s o reported that the d i f f e r e n c e i n p a l a t a b i l i t y between aqueous e x t r a c t s from the muscles of c u l t u r e d and w i l d y e l l o w t a i l s may be a t t r i b u t a b l e to the d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e i r f r e e h i s t i d i n e content, because, of the e x t r a c t i v e components analyzed, only i n h i s t i d i n e was there a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e between c u l t u r e d and w i l d f i s h . On the other hand, Hughes (20) has s t a t e d that the a d d i t i o n of 400 mg of h i s t i d i n e to 100 g of h e r r i n g meat d i d not produce any d e t e c t a b l e change of f l a v o r , when t a s t e d a f t e r h e a t i n g . The author and coworkers (21) have found i n the omission t e s t of a s y n t h e t i c e x t r a c t (Table I I ) s i m u l a t i n g the e x t r a c t of d r i e d s k i p j a c k (katsuwobushi) that h i s t i d i n e , which i s the most abundant amino a c i d , making up about 80% of the t o t a l f r e e amino a c i d s , d i d not c o n t r i b u t e a p p r e c i a b l y t o the t a s t e . They have a l s o confirmed that h i s t i d i n e i n o s i n a t e , to which umami (monosodium L-glutamatel i k e t a s t e ) of katsuwobushi has been a t t r i b u t e d by Kodama ( 2 2 ) , was i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e from disodium i n o s i n a t e i n t a s t e potency. Table I I . Composition of a s y n t h e t i c e x t r a c t s i m u l a t i n g katsuwobushi e x t r a c t (mg/100 m l ) * Histidine Taurine Lysine Alanine Glutamic a c i d Leucine Glycine Phenylalanine Valine

90.9 1Θ.8 2.6 1.6 1.3 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.6

0.5 Serine Threonine 0.5 Isoleucine 0.4 A s p a r t i c a c i d 0.3 Methionine 0.3 Tyrosine 0.1 19.0 5'-IMP PH

5.8

* The c o n c e n t r a t i o n i s equivalent t o that of an aqueous e x t r a c t prepared using 3% of katsuwobushi. From Konosu et_ a l . (21) . Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Scientific Fisheries

Iimura and Umeda (23) have described the f r e e h i s t i d i n e o c c u r r i n g i n q u a n t i t y i n katsuwobushi as s e r v i n g as a t a s t e enhancer i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h l a c t i c a c i d and IQ^PO^ by e l e v a t i n g b u f f e r i n g capacity. The r o l e of h i s t i d i n e i n making up the t a s t e of scombroid f i s h seems to be a subject i n need o f f u r t h e r study. Organic Acids i n S h e l l f i s h Since the pioneering work of A o k i (24) on the f l a v o r compo nents of s h e l l f i s h , s u c c i n i c a c i d had been b e l i e v e d to be the key


188


substance r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e i r p a l a t a b l e t a s t e . However, some questions have a r i s e n about i t . F i r s t l y , Takagi and Simidu (25) examined the c o r r e l a t i o n between the organic a c i d content of 9 species of s h e l l f i s h and t h e i r t a s t e , and found that the more p a l a t a b l e species were not n e c e s s a r i l y r i c h e r i n s u c c i n i c a c i d , as exemplified by the hard clam, Meretrix l u s o r i a . These r e s u l t s l e d them t o conclude that s u c c i n i c a c i d does not dominate the d e l i c i o u s t a s t e of s h e l l f i s h . Secondly, Konosu eit a l . (26) reported that the s u c c i n i c a c i d content of the short-necked clam, Tapes j a p o n i c a , when determined immediately a f t e r c o l l e c t i o n , was very low (20-40 mg/100 g o f e d i b l e part) as compared with A o k i s value (330 mg), and that the f l a v o r of a f r e s h sample was as good as that of a commercially a v a i l a b l e sample that had accumulated a l a r g e amount of s u c c i n i c acid. On the other hand, Take and Otsuka (27) s t a t e d that the aqueous e x t r a c t of the c o r b i c u l a , C o r b i c u l a leana, was judged more acceptable by t e s t e r s than that from which the organic a c i d s had been removed by e x t r a c t i o n with d i e t h y l ether. They reported that exceedingly l a r g e amounts of c i t r i c , m a l i c , and g l y c o l i c a c i d s and a small amount of s u c c i n i c a c i d were contained i n t h e i r sample. Therefore, the c o n t r i b u t i o n of s u c c i n i c a c i d to the t a s t e i s obscure. Take and Otsuka noted that a s y n t h e t i c mixture (Table I I I ) c o n t a i n i n g amino a c i d s and organic acids i n the same r e l a t i v e concentrations as they occurred i n the c o r b i c u l a e x t r a c t , simul a t e d the t a s t e of the n a t u r a l e x t r a c t .


1

Table I I I . Composition of a s y n t h e t i c e x t r a c t simulating c o r b i c u l a e x t r a c t (mg/100 ml)* Glutamic a c i d Glycine Isoleucine Leucine Valine Phenylalanine Lysine

32.80 3.33 2.58 1.86 1.56 0.88 0.86

Arginine Histidine Aspartic acid Succinic acid C i t r i c acid Malic acid pH

0.75 0.58 0.57 19 1570 1000 7.3

* The concentration i s equivalent to that of an aqueous e x t r a c t prepared using 10% of the s o f t part of c o r b i c u l a . From Take and Otsuka (27) Memoirs of the Faculty of Education, Niigata University

Thus, the r o l e o f s u c c i n i c a c i d i n making up the t a s t e o f b i v a l v e s remains to be e l u c i d a t e d . T a s t e - a c t i v e Components i n Abalone

The

Abalone meat i s h i g h l y esteemed i n the Far Eastern c o u n t r i e s . author and Hashimoto (28) o r g a n o l e p t i c a l l y surveyed t a s t e -


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189

a c t i v e components of abalone meat, H a l i o t i s gigantea d i s c u s , by the omission t e s t using a s y n t h e t i c e x t r a c t which was formulated on the b a s i s of the a n a l y s i s of the meat e x t r a c t (Table IV).


Table IV. Composition of a s y n t h e t i c e x t r a c t s i m u l a t i n g abalone e x t r a c t (mg/100 ml)* Taurine Arginine Glycine Glutamic a c i d Alanine Serine Proline Threonine Lysine

946 299 174 109 98 95 83 82 76

Tyrosine Valine Phenylalanine Leucine Histidine Tryptophan Isoleucine Methionine Aspartic acid

* The concentration i s equivalent meat. From Konosu and Maeda (29).

57 37 26 24 23 20 18 13 9

T

5 -AMP 90 12 5 -ADP Glycine 975 betaine Trimethylamine j·^ oxide Trimethylamine 1.1 8 NH Glycogen 7400 5.8 PH f

3

t o that found i n abalone

Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Scientific Fisheries

Results obtained are summarized as f o l l o w s . 1) Taurine and a r g i n i n e , which account f o r an important part of the f r e e amino a c i d s , made l i t t l e c o n t r i b u t i o n t o the t a s t e . 2) When g l y c i n e was omitted from the s y n t h e t i c e x t r a c t , sweetness and umami decreased t o some extent and the o v e r a l l t a s t e became weak, but the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c t a s t e of abalone meat was s t i l l retained. 3) The e f f e c t of g l y c i n e betaine was almost the same as that of g l y c i n e . 4) When glutamic a c i d was removed from the s y n t h e t i c extract, umami decreased markedly, and the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c t a s t e disappeared. 5) AMP was found to c o n t r i b u t e to umami. 6) E l i m i n a t i o n of each of the other components was h a r d l y d e t e c t a b l e by p a n e l i s t s , but omission of them i n a group produced a considerably weaker t a s t e . 7) Glycogen, which i s contained i n abalone meat i n a high c o n c e n t r a t i o n , showed a body e f f e c t on the t a s t e , although g l y c o gen i t s e l f was t a s t e l e s s . These r e s u l t s suggest that t h e . t a s t e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f abalone meat i s c o n s t i t u t e d b a s i c a l l y of umami produced by glutamic a c i d and AMP, and of sweetness produced by g l y c i n e and g l y c i n e betaine. The t a s t e s produced by these substances are harmonized, smoothed, and enhanced by glycogen. I t seems c u r i o u s that AMP, which i s almost t a s t e l e s s , c o n t r i b u t e s t o umami, but t h i s may be e x p l a i n a b l e by the enhancing e f f e c t of AMP on MSG (monosodium Lglutamate) observed by T o i e_t a l . (30). In the muscle of marine i n v e r t e b r a t e s , AMP, instead of IMP as i n f i s h , i s accumulated as a post mortem degradation product of ATP, s i n c e the muscle l a c k s AMP


190


aminohydrolase, o r , i f present, i t s a c t i v i t y i s very low. Umami of many other marine i n v e r t e b r a t e s may w e l l be explained by the i n t e r a c t i o n of AMP and glutamic a c i d .


T a s t e - a c t i v e Components i n Squids Squids are popular sea foods i n Japan. They a r e not only consumed raw, b o i l e d o r b r o i l e d , but a r e a l s o processed t o sund r i e d , smoked, and fermented products. Endo e t a l . (32) analyzed the f r e e amino a c i d s , t r i m e t h y l amine oxide (TMAO), and g l y c i n e betaine i n the mantle muscle of s i x species of squids (Table V ) , and d i v i d e d the squids i n t o three groups by the composition: L o l i g o c h i n e n s i s , _L. k e n s a k i , and S e p i o t e u s t h i s l e s s o n i a n a , which are very r i c h i n f r e e amino a c i d s , e s p e c i a l l y i n g l y c i n e , were a f f i l i a t e d w i t h Group 1; Sepia escul e n t a , which i s moderately r i c h i n f r e e amino a c i d s , w i t h Group 2; and Thysanoteuthis rhombus and Ommastrephes s l o a n i p a c i f i c u s , which are scanty i n f r e e amino a c i d s , but abundant i n TMAO, w i t h Group 3. As the members of Groups 1 and 2 c o n t a i n considerable amounts of such sweet-tasting amino a c i d s as g l y c i n e , a l a n i n e , and p r o l i n e and have a b e t t e r t a s t e than members of Group 3, Endo e_t a l . assumed that these amino a c i d s are r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the p a l a t a b i l i t y of squids. Furthermore, they pointed out t h a t , although g l y c i n e betaine and TMAO had been thought to make some c o n t r i b u t i o n t o the t a s t e o f squids, the d i f f e r e n c e i n p a l a t a b i l i t y among the species i s not e x p l a i n a b l e by these components, because the g l y c i n e betaine content was r e l a t i v e l y uniform among the species and TMAO content was apparently higher i n Group 3 than i n Groups 1 and 2. I t i s d e s i r a b l e t o confirm t h e i r p o s t u l a t i o n s by organol e p t i c t e s t s and t o examine the c o n t r i b u t i o n o f n u c l e o t i d e s and organic a c i d s , which they have not analyzed, t o the t a s t e . Free Amino Acids i n Prawns and Lobsters The muscle e x t r a c t s of prawns and l o b s t e r s , l i k e many other marine i n v e r t e b r a t e s , are c h a r a c t e r i z e d by the presence of l a r g e amounts of f r e e g l y c i n e . H u j i t a e t _ a l . (_33, _34, 35) observed that the amount of f r e e g l y c i n e i n the muscle of these crustaceans p a r a l l e l e d t h e i r p a l a t a b i l i t y , and suggested that t h i s amino a c i d should make an important c o n t r i b u t i o n t o the t a s t e . Moreover, they suspected that a l a n i n e , p r o l i n e , and s e r i n e , which a l l have a sweet t a s t e , may a l s o c o n t r i b u t e t o the t a s t e t o some e x t e n t , since the c o r r e l a t i o n between the p a l a t a b i l i t y of the muscles and the sum of g l y c i n e and the three amino a c i d s i s h i g h l y s i g n i f i c a n t , as shown i n Figure 1. H u j i t a (34) n o t i c e d that the decrease i n p a l a t a b i l i t y of prawn muscle, Penaeus j a p o n i c u s , which proceeded along w i t h the lowering of freshness, was accompanied by a decrease i n f r e e g l y c i n e content. H u j i t a e t a l . 036) a l s o found that the f r e e g l y c i n e content of prawn muscle i s higher i n w i n t e r , when the


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191

his

Table V. Nitrogenous compounds i n the muscle e x t r a c t of squids (N mg/100 g) C0 •Η

43 cd U β


CO •Η CO CD

ο

•Η 44 03

•Η •Η

•Η

β

ο ϋ μι 27.8 2.3 0.4 3. 5 3.6 1.4 117.1 144.4 75.6

Ο

β

ο &c

β

43

Taurine Hydroxyproline Aspartic acid Threonine Serine Glutamic a c i d Proline Glycine Alanine Cystine Valine Methionine Isoleucine Leucine Tyrosine Phenylalanine Tryptophan Histidine Lysine Arginine Trimethylamine oxide G l y c i n e betaine

1.4 2.1 0.8 1. 5 3. 6 L.0 0.4 8. 1 4. 72. 3

CO

ω

CO cd

•H ω β 4-1 Ο Ο CO

•Η ρ

ω

m

22.5

3.0 3.5 3.3 40.1 154.5 41,0 0.2 1.8 0,1 1,7 0. 5 1. 3 0.7

1. 3 6.7 226.2

cd 4-»

CO φ

«Η

17. 9

1.0 3. 5 0..3 91.1 155..1 28..5 3.4 3,4 0. 7 0.6 1. 3 0. 6 0. 2 0. 7 4. 3 2.8 79.0

β

ω

cd •Η

ιΗ

οO C α) φ

en

53.8 5. 2

CO

4-»

ω ο α

4-»

CO

C0

43

e ο

43

u

Η

26. 7

17.8 3. 2 72. 7 11. 3 23. 5 1. 7 2. 3 2. 6 1.0 1. 2 0. 1 1.0

CO

ϋ •Η •Η

U β CO cd CO Ë ιΗ C0

ο α cd Ρ,

10 .8

0. 3 0. 7 1. 3

1.8 9. 3

0. 3 0. 3 0. 7 0. 9

-

3.0 2 85. 5

2. 2 1. 7 183.8

2 .4 2 .9 4.0 22 .9 4.5 10 .7 2 .1 2 .0 1 .7 1 .2 2 .5 1 .1 0.1 16 .1 4.0 51 .4

129

112

92

54

257

239

102

92

102

105

111

74

-, not detected. From Endo et a l . (32)

TASTE CHEMISTRY


196

Figure J

Xttrogenom components in era h extracts


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Fish and Shellfish


S.

Figure 4. Sugars and organic acids in crab extracts


197

FOOD

TASTE


198

Figure

5.

Inorganic

components

in craft

extracts


CHEMISTHY

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199

Minerals


Sugars & Organic acids Quaternary ammonium bases Nucleotides & related c o m p d s . Combined amino acids Free amino acids

NH

3

Quaternary a m m o n i u m bases Nucleotides & related compds. Combined amino a c i d s

Free a m i n o acids

M

M

F

Snow crab

Blue crab

Horsehair crab

King crab

F

Alaska king crab

Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Scientific Fisheries Figure 6.

Distribution of various components in crab extracts: (A) weight basis; (B) nitrogen basis (40)


200



Table V I I . Composition of a s y n t h e t i c e x t r a c t s i m u l a t i n g snow crab e x t r a c t (mg/100 m l ) * Taurine Aspartic acid Threonine Serine Sarcosine Proline Glutamic a c i d Glycine Alanine a-Amino-nbutyric acid Valine Methionine Isoleucine Leucine Tyrosine Phenylalanine Ornithine Lysine Histidine 3-Methylhistidine Tryptophan Arginine

243 10 14 14 77 327 19 623 187

9 Ζ 30 19 29 30 19 17 1 25 8

J 10 579

f

5 -CMP 5 -AMP 5 -GMP 5 -IMP 5 -ADP Adenine Adenosine Hypoxanthine Inosine Guanine Cytosine Glycine betaine Trimethylamine oxide Homarine Glucose Ribose Lactic acid Succinic acid NaCl KC1 NaH P0 Na HP0 PH f

f

f

f

2

2

4

4

6 32 4 5 7 1 26 7 13 1 1 357 338 63 17 4 100 9 259 376 108 569 6.60

* The c o n c e n t r a t i o n i s equivalent to that found i n the crab meat. For o r g a n o l e p t i c t e s t s , the s o l u t i o n was d i l u t e d twice.



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1) When g l y c i n e i s omitted from the s y n t h e t i c e x t r a c t , sweetness and umami decrease c o n s i d e r a b l y . 2) Alanine serves t o produce sweetness, although not a great deal. 3) Glutamic a c i d c o n t r i b u t e s g r e a t l y t o umami. When i t i s removed, the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c t a s t e of crab and the sweet sensation decrease c o n s i d e r a b l y . 4) When a r g i n i n e i s e l i m i n a t e d , the o v e r a l l t a s t e as w e l l as the c r a b - l i k e t a s t e becomes weak. 5) Each of GMP and AMP c o n t r i b u t e s s l i g h t l y t o umami. 6) Omission of CMP produces almost no change i n t a s t e . (However, s i n c e repeated t r i a n g l e d i f f e r e n c e t e s t s c o n s i s t e n t l y showed that a d i f f e r e n c e between two t e s t s o l u t i o n s a t l e a s t a t the 5% l e v e l , i s s i g n i f i c a n t , CMP may c o n t r i b u t e t o the t a s t e of crab, although the p a n e l i s t s could not perceive i t s presence distinctly.) 7) When sodium ions a r e omitted, sweetness and umami decrease d r a s t i c a l l y and the c r a b - l i k e t a s t e disappears completely. 8) I f potassium ions a r e e l i m i n a t e d , the c r a b - l i k e t a s t e i s r e t a i n e d t o some extent, but the t a s t e becomes watery. 9) When c h l o r i d e ions are removed, the t e s t s o l u t i o n becomes almost t a s t e l e s s . 10) Removal of phosphate ions causes a s l i g h t decrease i n sweet and s a l t sensations as w e l l as umami. I t was a l s o sound i n a supplementary t e s t that g l y c i n e betaine serves t o produce a d e l i c a t e f l a v o r . P r o l i n e , t a u r i n e , and TMAO, although t h e i r concentrations a r e remarkably h i g h , c o n t r i b u t e l i t t l e t o the t a s t e , as do the other minor components. I t was thereby confirmed that a s y n t h e t i c e x t r a c t c o n t a i n i n g the above twelve components could reproduce the c r a b - l i k e t a s t e , although i t i s weaker than that of the mixture c o n t a i n i n g a l l the c o n s t i t u e n t s l i s t e d i n Table V I I . From these r e s u l t s , we have depicted a model f o r the cons t r u c t i o n of the t a s t e of crab meat. This i s shown i n Figure 7. The nucleus of the crab t a s t e i s produced by a l i m i t e d number of compounds, such as g l y c i n e , glutamic a c i d , a r g i n i n e , AMP, GMP, sodium i o n s , and c h l o r i d e i o n s . The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c t a s t e of crab meat thus formed i s elaborated upon and enhanced by such components as a l a n i n e , g l y c i n e b e t a i n e , potassium i o n s , and phosphate i o n s , and p o s s i b l y by CMP. The other components, though t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s a r e s l i g h t , j o i n t l y a l s o serve as t a s t e enhancers. Conclusion Among a wide v a r i e t y of sea foods w i t h a great v a r i e t y of t a s t e s , the o v e r a l l t a s t e p i c t u r e s o f only a few have been s t u d i e d by d e t a i l e d chemical a n a l y s i s of t h e i r e x t r a c t i v e components accompanied by o r g a n o l e p t i c t e s t s . Sea foods provide f a s c i n a t i n g m a t e r i a l s f o r food chemists who a r e i n t e r e s t e d i n f l a v o r .



202 Acknowledgement

The author i s indebted t o P r o f e s s o r M. Ikawa, Department of Biochemistry, U n i v e r s i t y of New Hampshire, and Drs. K. Yamaguchi and T. Hayashi, F a c u l t y of A g r i c u l t u r e , The U n i v e r s i t y of Tokyo, f o r t h e i r a s s i s t a n c e i n the p r e p a r a t i o n of t h i s manuscript.

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RECEIVED April 26, 1979.


The Taste of Fish and Shellfish - ACS Symposium Series (ACS

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