Comparison of non-volatile taste-active compounds between the cooked meats of pre- and post-spawning Yangtze Coilia ectenes

The profiles of the non-volatile taste-active compounds, including 5′-nucleotides, free amino acids and inorganic ions were first compared between the cooked meats of Yangtze Coilia ectenes, pre- and post-spawning. A total of nine 5′-nucleotides, 17 free amino acids and six inorganic ions were identified in the pre- and post-spawning cooked meats, and their taste effects were evaluated by taste-active values (TAVs) and equivalent umami concentration (EUC). Not only the total contents of the 5′-nucleotides, free amino acids and inorganic ions, but also the contents of flavor 5′-nucleotides and umami amino acids in pre-spawning cooked meat were significantly higher than those in post-spawning cooked meat. The main nucleotide was 5′-inosine monophosphate (IMP), and the TAV of IMP in pre-spawning cooked meat (3.31) was approximately twice that of post-spawning cooked meat. Glycine and alanine were major sweet amino acids, which did not differ significantly between pre- and post-spawning cooked meats. The main inorganic ions were potassium and phosphate, and these were higher in pre-spawning cooked meat than in post-spawning cooked meat. Compared with post-spawning cooked meat, pre-spawning cooked meat had characteristically higher contents of glutamate, IMP, potassium and phosphate. The EUC of pre- and post-spawning cooked meats were 0.99 and 0.33 g monosodium glutamate (MSG)/100 g, respectively, indicating that the umami taste in cooked meat of Yangtze Coilia ectenes was very intense. Sensory evaluation showed that pre-spawning cooked meat had a much stronger umami taste than that of post-spawning cooked meat.