Escalating health apprehensions regarding excessive sodium and monosodium glutamate (MSG) consumption have intensified the demand for innovative strategies to reduce MSG and NaCl without impairing sensory integrity. This research utilized a multimodal approach, integrating quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA), electronic tongue technology, and the generalized labeled magnitude scale (gLMS), to evaluate the umami and salinity-enhancing properties of N-succinyl amino acids (N-Suc-AAs: N-Suc-Phe, N-Suc-Trp, and N-Suc-Tyr) within model solutions (2-14 mg/mL). Across the tested concentration range, N-Suc-AAs increased perceived umami and saltiness, yielding mean category-scale enhancement scores of 0.5-1.6 (0 = no difference), depending on enhancer identity and dosage. Stevens’ power functions derived from gLMS data exhibited strong fits (R² = 0.9129-0.9648), with exponents of 1.1236-1.1670 for umami and 1.0229-1.0568 for saltiness. The scaling constant (k) increased from 0.5472 (umami) and 0.7973 (saltiness) in water to 0.7568-0.9654 and 1.0217-1.1910, respectively, in the presence of N-Suc-AA carriers, indicating greater perceived intensity at equivalent MSG/NaCl concentrations. Using the constant-stimulus method, differential thresholds for both umami and saltiness increased with increasing N-Suc-AA concentration, supporting the feasibility of reducing MSG and NaCl while preserving taste perception. • Quantitative descriptive analysis and electronic tongue confirmed that N-succinyl-amino acids (N-Suc-AAs) showed taste-enhancing effects on umami and saltiness at suprathreshold levels • The Stevens' power Law of umami and saltiness in different N-Suc-AAs carriers was obtained. • The difference thresholds values for umami and saltiness increased at higher additions of N-Suc-AAs, whereas lower additions showed the opposite trend.
Huang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.