TASTE OF DELICIOUS BEEFY MEATY PEPTIDE - REVISED

An octapeptide, previously isolated and named by others as beefy meaty peptide and described as a beef flavor enhancer having a delicious ta ste, was synthesized. Using Fmoc-amino acids and HBTU reagent, the pep tide was synthesized and recovered in high yield. The peptide was char acterized by biochemical methods and evaluated for its alleged umami t aste properties similar to the taste of monosodium glutamate (MSG). Th e peptide was shown to be homogeneous by high-performance chromatograp hy, amino acid composition analysis, and amino acid sequence analysis. Electrospray mass spectrometry confirmed the sequence analysis. Stabi lity of the peptide in solution was also evaluated. Taste evaluation b y a trained flavor panel showed that the synthesized octapeptide and s ome peptide fragments did not have any umami or other taste. Suggestio ns are given to explain the observed difference between our results an d those reported by others.