Cleaner preparation of N-lauroyl theanine with taste-enhancing properties and deciphering its taste-presenting mechanism.

With the improvement of people's living standards and health awareness, reducing salt, sugar, and fat is gradually becoming the mainstream trend. In this work, we delved into the development of an innovative taste enhancer, N-lauroyl theanine (NLT), and its taste presentation mechanism. NLT was synthesized in the aqueous phase by enzyme-catalyzed and direct-heating methods using food-grade enzymes in yields of up to 64.