Precise and fast kokumi effect
"Kokumi" is the name given to the spicy, full-bodied taste of mature cheeses. A new method can be used to effectively analyze the relevant peptides.
peptides produced during cheese ripening are crucial for the full-bodied taste of ripened cheeses known as kokumi. A research team led by the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich has now developed a new method to analyze these taste-relevant peptides precisely, quickly and efficiently. Using more than 120 cheese samples, the team has also created a database that can be used in future to predict the development of flavor during cheese ripening.
The term kokumi comes from the Japanese and stands for a full-bodied and long-lasting taste experience. The taste sensation is particularly pronounced in matured cheeses and is mainly due to the increasing concentration of gamma-glutamyl dipeptides. These are small molecules that consist of a link between glutamic acid and another amino acid.
Depending on how the two amino acids are linked, researchers differentiate between gamma, alpha and X-glutamyl dipeptides, whereby the latter two do not contribute to the Kokumi effect. The high polarity of glutamyl dipeptides and their great structural similarity with different taste contributions represent a major challenge for food analysis.
Efficient analysis method developed
Nevertheless, the team led by Andreas Dunkel from the Leibniz Institute has succeeded in developing a new, efficient analysis method based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. For the first time, the concentrations of all 56 gamma-glutamyl dipeptide variants can be determined precisely and selectively in just 22 minutes. Optimized sample preparation enables the analysis of 60 cheese samples per day.
"This is a significant improvement compared to other methods. Our tests have shown that our method is faster, more efficient and still reliable - it delivers reproducible results and detects even the smallest concentrations," says first author Sonja Maria Fröhlich, PhD student at the Leibniz Institute. In order to investigate the influence of ripening time on gamma-glutamyl dipeptide concentrations in more detail, the researchers applied the method to 122 cheese samples from Europe and the USA after the test phase. The ripening times of the cheeses ranged from two weeks to 15 years.
Mould cultures accelerate flavor development
The results show that, as expected, the concentrations of glutamyl dipeptides increase with increasing maturity. "Interestingly, the addition of blue and white mold cultures led to significantly higher gamma-glutamyl dipeptide concentrations, even with shorter ripening times," says Andreas Dunkel, who heads the Integrative Food Systems Analysis working group at the Leibniz Institute.
The food chemist adds: "The concentration profiles we determined for different ripening stages and types of cheese can be used as a database for prediction models in the future. The latter could be used, for example, to objectively monitor flavor development during cheese ripening, shorten ripening times or develop new plant-based cheese products with high consumer acceptance."
"In terms of an interdisciplinary, food systems biology research approach, one of our goals is to combine analytical research results with bioinformatics methods in order to develop predictive models that are suitable for supporting sustainable food production. This is also where the project led by Andreas Dunkel comes in," concludes Veronika Somoza, Director of the Leibniz Institute in Freising.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
Original publication
Sonja Maria Fröhlich, Manon Jünger, Verena Karolin Mittermeier-Kleßinger, Corinna Dawid, Thomas F. Hofmann, Veronika Somoza, Andreas Dunkel; "Towards prediction of maturation-dependent kokumi taste in cheese by comprehensive high throughput quantitation of glutamyl dipeptides"; Food Chemistry, Volume 463
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Topic World Food Analytics
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