Researchers from Thailand revealed on Food Chemistry that it is possible to isolate seafood-like flavours for industrial use from the waste streams of seaweed agar production via the production of seaweed protein hydrolysates
An enzymatic bromelain seaweed protein hydrolysate (eb-SWPH) was characterised as the precursor for thermally processed seafood flavour. Seaweed (Gracilaria fisheri) protein after agar extraction was hydrolysed using bromelain (enzyme activity = 119,325 U/g) at 0–20% (w/w) for 0.5–24 h. Optimal hydrolysis conditions were determined using response surface methodology.
The proposed model took into account the interaction effect of the enzyme concentration and hydrolysis time on the physicochemical properties and volatile components of eb-SWPH. The optimal hydrolysis conditions for the production of eb-SWPH were 10% bromelain for 3 h, which resulted in a 38.15% yield and a 62.91% degree of hydrolysis value. Three free amino acids, arginine, lysine, and leucine, were abundant in the best hydrolysate. Ten volatile flavours of the best eb-SWPH were identified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The predominant odourants were hexanal, hexanoic acid, nonanoic acid, and dihydroactinidiolide.
The thermally processed seafood flavour produced from eb-SWPH exhibited a roasted seafood-like flavouring.
