Ajinomoto Co., Ltd.

Motonaka Kuroda

Takeshi Iwasaki

Yasushi Nishimura

Naohiro Miyamura

Hiroaki Nishiuchi

Tsutomu Harada

Toshihito Seki

Masanori Kohmura

Keigo Shima

Norihiko Yamada

Akira Okuaki

Glycopeptides and peptides having the formula: where X represents a hydrogen atom or a sugar chain, provide a taste improving function, particularly a kokumi taste imparting function. Such glycopeptides and peptides may be used to impart the kokumi taste to foods or seasonings and to improve the kokumi taste in foods with the use of seasonings that contain such glycopeptides and peptides.

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Food containing &#x3b3;-glutamylcysteine or cysteine is produced by culturingcontaining 1% by weight or more of &#x3b3;-glutamylcysteine per dry cells in logarithmic growth phase when cultured in a minimal medium, for example,in which a gene encoding glutathione synthetase is modified so that intracellular glutathione synthetase activity is reduced, under a suitable condition and mixing the obtained culture or a fraction thereof or the culture or a fraction thereof subjected to heat treatment with a raw material of food or drink to process food or drink.

Seasoning compositions, which comprise 100 parts by weight of potassium chloride, 0.2 to 5 parts by weight of a sugar alcohol, 1 to 7.5 parts by weight of monosodium glutamate, 1 to 10 parts by weight of sucrose, and 0.05 to 1 part by weight of sodium inosinate and/or sodium guanylate, are useful as table salt (sodium chloride) replacers and can be used to reduce the amount of sodium chloride, while at the same time imparting a good salty taste to food.

Seasoning compositions, foods containing such a seasoning composition, and process for preparing such foods

A mixture selected from the group consisting of (1) gelatin and tropomyosin and/or tropomyosin peptides, (2) gelatin and paramyosin, and (3) troponin and tropomyosin and/or tropomyosin peptides, which when combined with a low-molecular weight fraction of natural extracts, and heated in water, imparts 'KOKUMI' taste characteristics to food and drink.

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Kawasaki, Japan

Motonaka Kuroda