Different characteristics of 40 kinds of free amino acids and 5-amino levulinic acid between wines and sakes (Japanese rice wines)

Based on a systemic analysis for the global burden of disease study from 1990 to 2016, the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) 2016 Alcohol Collaborators reported that alcohol use was a leading risk factor for global disease burden and caused substantial health loss. However, alcoholic drink (wines and sakes) contains abundant nutrients, particularly fermentable amino acids derived from grapes and rice. Amino acid nutrition and metabolism is strongly associated with health and prevention against various diseases. The purpose of this study was to elucidate 40 kinds of free amino acid (FAA) profiles in wines and sakes. In addition, the present study also provided the contents of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) involved in the vital functionality of mitochondria. FAAs were detected and analyzed by use of an automatic amino acid analyzer. Aromatic amino acid, branched chain amino acid and Fischer ratio were calculated for each beverage. Individual FAAs showed significant differences between wines and sakes. Sakes abundantly contained almost all FAAs whereas wines had just a little content in some FAAs. Sake were rich in arginine, glycine, alanine, valine, glutamic acid and leucine, while wines were remarkably rich in proline (Pro). Wines showed increased FAA levels in 6 kinds of variables (4-hydroxyproline, 3-methyl histidine, β-alanine, α-aminobutyric acid, Pro and α-aminoadipic acid). In functionally characteristic FAAs, both wines and sakes were considerably abundant in γ-aminobutyric acid and 5-ALA. The total amount of aromatic amino acid and branched chain amino acid were markedly higher in sakes than in wines. These results revealed that there were the apparent different characteristics in FAA profiles between wines and sakes. This difference resulted from fermentation process in wines (single fermentation) and sakes (parallel double fermentation). Forty kinds of FAA profiles are more useful in investigating characteristics of the taste of wines and sakes. In future, detailed FAA analysis has the potential to find functional nutrients such as 5-ALA, whereas other foods generally contain little amount of these FAAs.