Flavor Characteristics of Ten Peanut Varieties from China

Bin Ding; Fei Wang; Bei Zhang; Mengshi Feng; Lei Chang; Yuyang Shao; Yan Sun; Ying Jiang; Rui Wang; Libin Wang; Jixian Xie; Chunlu Qian

doi:10.3390/foods12244380

Flavor Characteristics of Ten Peanut Varieties from China

Foods. 2023 Dec 5;12(24):4380. doi: 10.3390/foods12244380.

Authors

Bin Ding¹, Fei Wang², Bei Zhang², Mengshi Feng¹, Lei Chang¹, Yuyang Shao², Yan Sun², Ying Jiang¹, Rui Wang¹, Libin Wang³, Jixian Xie¹, Chunlu Qian²

Affiliations

¹ Taizhou Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Taizhou 210014, China.
² Department of Food Science and Engineering, School of Food Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225012, China.
³ College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.

Abstract

To investigate the flavor characteristics of peanuts grown in Jiangsu, China, ten local varieties were selected. The amino acids, 5'-nucleotides and volatile substances were detected, and the flavor and odor characteristics of these varieties were estimated using an electronic tongue and nose. The results showed that the fat and protein contents of ten peanut varieties changed significantly (p < 0.05), and may have been negatively correlated with those of the Taihua 6 variety-in particular, having the highest protein content and the lowest fat content. The amino acid contents of the peanuts were 20.08 g/100 g (Taihua 4)-27.18 g/100 g (Taihua 6). Taihua 6 also contained the highest bitter (10.41 g/100 g) and sweet (6.06 g/100 g) amino acids, and Taihua 10 had the highest monosodium glutamate-like amino acids (7.61 g/100 g). The content of 5'-nucleotides ranged from 0.08 mg/g (Taihua 9725) to 0.14 mg/g (Taihua 0122-601). Additionally, 5'-cytidylate monophosphate (5'-CMP) and 5'-adenosine monophosphate (5'-AMP) were the major 5'-nucleotides detected in the peanuts. A total of 42 kinds of volatile flavor compounds were detected, with both Taihua 4 and 6 showing the most (18 kinds) and the highest content being in Taihua 4 (7.46%). Both Taihua 9725 and 9922 exhibited the fewest kinds (nine kinds) of volatile components, and the lowest content was in Taihua 9725 (3.15%). Formic acid hexyl ester was the most abundant volatile substance in peanuts, and the highest level (3.63%) was detected in Taihua 7506. The electronic tongue and nose indicated that the greatest taste difference among the ten varieties of peanuts was mainly related to sourness, and Taihua 4 and Taihua 9922 had special taste characteristics. On the other hand, the greatest smell difference among the ten varieties of peanuts was mostly for methane and sulfur organic substances, and Taihua 0605-2 had a special and strong smell characteristic. In conclusion, the content and composition differences of the flavor substances of ten peanut varieties were responsible for their divergences in taste and smell. These results will provide guidelines for the further use (freshly consumed or processed) of these ten peanut varieties.

Keywords: 5′-nucleotides; flavor; free amino acids; peanut; volatiles.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Jiangsu Modern Agricultural Industrial Technology System (grant number: JATS [2022] 298; Jiangsu Provincial Key Research and Development Project (Modern Agriculture) (grant number: BE2022411); Jiangsu Agricultural Science and Technology Independent Innovation Fund (grant number: CX (22)3086); Taizhou Science and Technology Support Program (Agriculture) Project (grant number: TN202128).