Umami and koku peptides in traditional meat products.

Abstract

Traditional meat products are highly valued all over the world and their attractiveness depends on socio-economical, ethical and religious factors as well as on their organoleptic properties that confer unique textural, gustatory, and olfactory characteristics. Taste compounds are closely related to protein degradation processes as hydrophilic metabolites such as amino acids, peptides and nucleotides are main contributors to final taste in traditional meat products. In this review, the generation of main compounds related to taste in traditional meat products are described, specially umami and koku peptides generated from the protein fraction during the traditional processing of these products. The use of certain peptides to enhance product taste and benefit human health is also highlighted.