Multiple taste functions of the umami substances in muscle extracts of yellowtail and bastard halibut

Boiled muscle extracts obtained from yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata and bastard halibut Paralichthys olivaceus were treated with two kinds of purified enzymes (acid phosphatase and glutamate decarboxylase), and the change in contents of nucleotides, related compounds, and free amino acids was examined. The change in taste qualities was also investigated by a taste test. The enzyme treatment resulted in a marked decrease in the contents of such umami substances as inosine 5′-monophosphate (IMP) and glutamic acid (Glu). The taste test revealed that the treatment of these fish muscle extracts with both or either of the enzymes caused a sharp decrease in umami intensity and also an increase in sourness but not a change in pH. The treatment also effected marked decreases in thickness and overall taste intensity. These findings suggest that IMP and Glu function not only to intensify the thickness and overall taste as well as the umami, but also to repress the sourness sensation elicited by the fish muscle extracts.