Abstract
Inosinic acid, a tasting substance of foodstuffs, was determined on the various kinds of commercial marine products by the column chromatographic method. The results are given in Table 1. Figures in the table show that inosinic acid is rich in fresh or frozen meat of marine vertebrates, but scanty in both invertebrate meats and a seaweed. Marine foods, such as boiled and dried fish or canned fish, generally reveal a relatively high value, probably due to inactivation of the enzyme system connecting with degradation of inosinic acid by heat, which is applied to these foods in the processing. This fact, on the other hand, indicates the stability of the acid to heating commonly used in food processing. Little acid is detected in dried or kippered fishes.
The change of inosinic acid content during drying and autolysis was pursued on jack mackerel meat. As shown in Table 2, the earlier changes, namely, the rapid rise and slow fall, are similar in both cases, whereas a distinct difference is observed in the last stage. Although the acid disappears completely in autolysis, a considerable amount of it is retained in dried fish. This may suggest that a rapid dehydration is also effective in keeping this tasting substance.
