Abstract: Kokumi is one of the sixth basic taste candidates, whose addition to food can enhance the thickness, mouthfulness, continuity and harmony of taste. As a result, kokumi-related flavor products have a great potential to be developed and marketed. γ-Glutamyl peptides with kokumi flavor are an important class of kokumi substances, also called γ-kokumi peptides, composed of γ-glutamyl and amino acid/polypeptide, which could be synthesized by γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). In this paper, the structural characteristics and food sources of γ-kokumi peptides and the methods used for their taste evaluation and preparation, as well as the structural characteristics, catalytic mechanism and application for the synthesis of γ-kokumi peptides of GGT are reviewed, which will provide a basis for the development of γ-kokumi peptide-related flavor products and their enzymatic synthesis with GGT.

Key words: γ-kokumi peptides, structural characteristics, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, enzymatic synthesis