Ajinomoto Co., Ltd.

Tsutomu Harada

Keigo Shima

Yutaka Honda

Eiichiro Suzuki

Norihiko Yamada

Soji Suzuki

Motonaka Kuroda

Mitsuo Kamada

Fusako Yamanaka

Yasuko Takada

Katsumi Ohata

Mika Ikeda

The bitterness, astringency and persistent sweetness possessed commonly by intense sweeteners may be reduced to afford a lightly sweet aftertaste, by the addition of an amino acid derivative such as N-(1-methyl-4-oxo-2-imidazolin-2-yl)alanine or analogues thereof.

Taste-improving agent and a food having improved taste

Compounds of the formula (1) ##STR1## wherein X and Y are each N or NH, Z is O or OH, (1) when X=N and Y=NH, Z=O, and *1 and *3 are double bonds, (2) when X=NH and Y=N, Z=O, and *2 and *3 are double bonds, (3) when X=N and Y=N, Z=OH, and *2 and *4 are double bonds, and R is a side chain derived from an amino acid; for example, the amino acid is glycine with R=H, alanine with R=CH.sub.3, glutamic acid with R=CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 COOH, lysine with R=CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 NH.sub.2, or leucine with R=CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.3, and/or an analogues thereof are useful for imparting a 'thick, sour' taste to foods.

Seasoning material

A novel seasoning material mainly composed of a turbid material obtained from an extract or liquid of livestock meat, fish or shellfish, vegetables, fungi or the like by reducing the ionic strength or electroconductivity thereof, when added to the prior art processed versions of natural extracts, natural extract substitutes, flavor-seasonings or to foods or drinks, can tone up their taste creating function or provide 'steady and sharp' to the taste comparable to that of natural extracts or basic stocks.

A seasoning composition containing food and an amino acid derivative that imparts a 'thick, sour taste' to the food.

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.

Taste enhancer

There is provided a novel composition for oral cavity application to which a sustained release property is imparted so as to effectively exhibit the effects of a component for preventing bad odor from the oral cavity and/or a flavor component and/or an anti-dental caries component in the oral cavity. By incorporating a .beta.-2,1 linked fructose polymer as a polysaccharide together with a sweetener component, a component for preventing bad odor from the oral cavity and/or a flavor component and/or an anti-dental caries component, the residence time of the effective components described above can be prolonged in the oral cavity to enhance their effects and the residence time can also be controlled. That is, the composition for oral cavity application is characterized by sustained release of the effective components described.

Sustained release composition for application to the oral cavity

There is provided a food and drink having a reduced oil, fat, or sugar content yet retaining good gelation properties and good organoleptic properties, etc. A part of or the whole of gelation materials, low calorie sugars and/or oils and fats is/are replaced with polyfructan.

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Kawasaki, Japan

Tsutomu Harada