The effects of yeast fermentation on taste substance evolution and sensory development of dry-cured ham: The insights of peptidomics and metabolomics

To investigate the mechanism of yeast fermentation on the evolution of taste substances of Jinhua ham, the effects of <i>Rhodotorula mucilaginosa</i> (B2, S13 and S38) and <i>Candida parapsilosis</i> (B10) fermentation on structural protein degradation, taste components and sensory characteristics were studied. The scores of aftertaste-A, aftertaste-B and richness showed the highest scores in S13 group among these treatments (B2, S13, S38, B10 and control group), and higher proteolytic enzyme and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase activities observed in S13 group contributed to the more intense degradation of myosin. The peptides derived from MYH7B and MYH1 accounted for 58.06 % of the total peptides, and 25 oligopeptides showed kokumi potential. ¹H NMR indicated that 15 free amino acids and 5 γ-glutamyl peptides showed higher contents in S13 group compared with other groups. PLSR and correlation network analysis demonstrated that the accumulation of free amino acids and oligopeptides was responsible for taste enhancement of Jinhua ham.