Application of a novel evaluation technique as a method to search for flavor-enhancing components of katsuobushi aroma

It is known that bonito flakes have the effect of enhancing umami and saltiness. In this study, we used our proprietary evaluation method “TASTING-GC^®”, which is based on GC-O odor analysis, to search for components that contribute to flavor in bonito flakes aroma, and found that 4-ethylguaiacol and 4-propylguaiacol showed umami enhancing effects in powdered dashi.
Further evaluation of similar structures and their activities suggested that multiple components also have umami enhancing effects. The findings are expected to be applied to a wide range of food products.

The results of this research were presented orally at the public symposium sponsored by the Society of the Research on Koku (2022) under the title of “Application of Novel Evaluation Techniques as a Method to Explore the Taste Enhancing Components of Bonito Flavor”.