Discovery and Identification of Tastants and Taste-Modulating -Acyl Amino Acid Derivatives in Traditional Korean Fermented Dish Kimchi Using a Sensomics Approach.

Sensory-guided fractionation by means of ultrafiltration and gel permeation chromatography followed by high-performance liquid chromatography, synthesis, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) quantitation, and taste re-engineering experiments revealed taste-active and taste-enhancing compounds contributing to the umami, mouthful and complex taste profile of the fermented Korean dish, kimchi. Besides basic taste-active compounds, in particular, various -acylated amino acids deriving from succinic acid and lactic acid imparted taste-modulating properties in food matrices. Taste threshold concentrations were determined to evaluate intrinsic and modulating effects.