Recent progress and prospects in production and identification of umami peptides from marine proteins

Umami peptides, the flavor compounds mainly derived from natural proteins, provide a pleasant taste for humans and exhibit a variety of biological activities, such as antioxidant and lipid-lowering properties. Marine proteins, which serve as excellent sources of umami peptides, have become a focal point of research. This review introduces the research progress on reported marine umami peptides. Firstly, it discusses the structural characteristics of umami peptides and the mechanism behind their formation to create an umami taste. It then presents several commonly used techniques for preparing and regulating umami peptides while summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of each technique. Finally, this review describes the potential application prospects for core technologies within Industry 4.0—such as molecular simulation, artificial intelligence, big data analysis, cloud computing, and blockchain technology—which could bring new opportunities for the development of marine umami peptides.