LAUSR

BACKGROUND Enzyme modified butter (EMB) is used as one of the common raw materials to obtain natural milk flavor. Butter protein is a by-product in butter processing that can be used as substrate to produce taste-active peptides, which can create additional value and new application opportunities, making the approach more environmentally friendly. RESULTS The putative kokumi peptides from hydrolysates of the by-product protein were isolated by gel filtration chromatography and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The isolated peptide fraction with the most pronounced kokumi taste was screened by sensory evaluation and electronic tongue analysis. Eleven peptides were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Six peptides were synthesized to verify their taste characteristics. Five synthetic peptides (FTKK, CKEVVRNANE, EELNVPG, VPNSAEER and YPVEPFTER) showed different intensity levels of kokumi taste, of which the decapeptide CKEVVRNANE had the highest kokumi intensity. CONCLUSION The newly identified kokumi peptides increased the kokumi taste intensity and showed some synergistic effect with umami taste. Both termini of the peptides seem to play an important role in taste characteristic. Glu residue at both termini can increase the kokumi taste intensity. This work indicated that it was feasible to produce kokumi peptides by enzymatic hydrolysis of the by-product protein of butter. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.