Abstract
We investigated the relationship between the amount of free amino acids
and the salinity conditions in cultivation (10 ‰ or 30 ‰) of two red algal
species, Neopyropia tenera (Kjellman) L.-E. Yang & J. Brodie,
and Neopyropia yezoensis (Ueda) L.-E. Yang & J. Brodie. The
total amount of free amino acids and the level of Alanine of N. tenera
were significantly higher than those of N. yezoensis in 30
‰ seawater. Alanine is known as the most major free amino acid with umami
and the sweetness in the genus Neopyropia. This result might be
one of reasons why N. tenera tastes sweeter than N.
yezoensis. In addition, it was shown that in each species the total
amount of free amino acids and the level of Alanine in 30 ‰ seawater were
significantly higher than those in 10 ‰ seawater.
