Role of Free Amino Acids and Peptides in Food Taste

Free amino acids and/or some peptides have some sweetness, bitterness, sourness, saltiness and umami, and are very important as taste substances in foods. In this paper, we discuss 1)some tastes of free amino acids and some peptides, 2)the role of free amino acids in the characteristic tastes of vegetables and marine foods, 3)the role of the bitter peptides in cheese and the traditional Japanese foods "miso" and "natto", and 4)the contribution of free amino acids and peptides to the improvement of the meat taste during storage of meats (beef, pork and chicken).