Enzymatic Improvement of Food Flavor

III. Oxidation of the Soybean Protein-Bound Aldehyde by Aldehyde Dehydrogenase

Abstract

Defatted soybean extract was fractionated into protein fractions and low molecular weight fractions with gel filtration. NAD-dependent aldehyde dehydrogenase from bovine liver mitochondria and from yeast was found to oxidize aldehyde in both fractions. These enzymes, therefore, were used to determine the quantity of aldehyde. When the protein fraction obtained by gel filtration was subjected to gel filtration again, aldehyde was recovered in the protein fractions. The level of aldehyde in the protein fractions was unchanged before and after digestion of the protein with pepsin. When the soybean extract was incubated beforehand with aldehyde debydrogenase and NAD⁺ and the subjected to gel filtration, no aldehyde was detected in the protein fractions. These results indicate that aldehyde dehydrogenase acts on the soybean protein-bound aldehyde. Alcohol dehydrogenase from horse liver in the presence of NADH did not convert the bound aldehyde to alcohol.
A large portion of the aldehyde in the extract was separated from the protein by acid precipitation of the protein. Aldehyde dehydrogenase acts on the aldehyde remaining in the protein after acid precipitation. Thus acid precipitation helps to save NAD⁺ required for complete removal of aldehyde from the soybean protein by aldehyde dehydrogenase.