2007 Volume 24 Pages 191-197
In this study, in order to elucidate the characteristics of “umami” from bouillon extracted from boiled smoke-dried and molded bonito (Katsuodashi), we compared the composition and number of amino acids of different production districts in bonitos and seaweeds, as well as in different types of water (tap water and RO film filtration water). There was a large difference among the production districts of bonito bouillon in terms of amino acid composition and concentration. A specific kind of amino acid was contained in each bonito bouillon. The amino acid composition of seaweed bouillon also differed by producing district. A large amount of glutamic acid and aspartic acid was contained in the products of Rausu (170.3 and 118.9 μmol/mL, respectively) and Rishiri (159.7 and 100.2 μmol/mL, respectively). On the other hand, the products of Rausu (10.4 and 10.4 μmol/mL) and Hidaka (13.0 and 10.2 μmol/mL) have sweetness-producing alanine and proline in high concentrations. Thus, seaweed bouillon has umami-yielding glutamic and aspartic acid not contained in bonito bouillon. Also, there were differences in the amino acid concentrations of bonito and seaweed bouillons. From these findings, we confirmed that combining bonite and seaweed bouillons can compensate for each of their insufficient tastes, producing a bouillon high in umami as a result.
