Taste components of boreo Pacific gonate squid Gonatopsis borealis

An extract was prepared with trichloroacetic acid from the mantle and arm muscles of boreo pacific gonate squid. Free amino acids, trimethylamine oxide, 5'-ATP and related compounds, betaines, octopine, and other components in the extract were analyzed. Mantle muscle of boreo pacific gonate squid was rich in taurine, arginine, trimethylamine oxide, octopine, homarine, and glycinebetaine. Amounts of free amino acids of the mantle and arm muscles of boreo pacific gonate squid were relatively lower than the reported values of common squids. This squid seemed to be acceptable as a food material. Amounts of acidic and neutral amino acids, Na+, and Cl- of the arm muscle were higher than those of the mantle muscle, on the other hand, amounts of homarine and octopine of the mantle muscle were higher than those of the arm muscle. An ethanol extract was also prepared to reveal taste-active components of the boreo pacific gonate squid muscle. Threonine, serine, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, arginine, proline, glycinebetaine, trimethylamine oxide, trimethylamine, 5'-adenylic acid, NaCl, KH2PO4, and KCl were confirmed as the taste-active components of boreo pacific gonate squid by the sensory taste test.