Short Communication - Determination of amino acid and free sugar contents in Korean traditional fermented soybean products of Doenjang and evaluation of their sensory attributes

This study quantitatively determined contents of amino acids and free sugars in soybean fermented samples (Doenjang) using amino acid autoanalyzer and HPLC, respectively. As a result, hreonine, serine, glycine, alanine and lysine categorized as total sweet amino acids and free sugars (sucrose, maltose, glucose, galactose and fructose) were found in the range of 32.7 to 117.1 and 5.85 to 23.66mg/100 g, respectively. However, average of total sugar content was noted to be 71.63mg%. Three samples possessing the best sensory characteristics were selected for further study. The mean values of four sensory attributes such as sweet, sour, savory and bitter tastes of Doenjang samples were found to be 709.53, 210.25, 241.90 and 276.05. These findings confirm nutritive properties of fermented food products of Doenjang with improved quality and utilization.