Abstract: The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of cooking water on the taste characteristics of hand-grasped mutton. Hand-grasped mutton was made from mutton chops from Ningxia Yanchi Tan sheep with domestic water in Yanchi County, Ningxia; domestic water in Fengtai District, Beijing; or superpure water. The results showed that cooking water had a significant effect on the taste characteristics of hand-grasped mutton. The index of protein degradation and the contents of glutamic acid and 5’-inosinic acid in hand-grasped mutton made with superpure water were remarkably higher than those in the other two samples, while the contents of alanine and glycine in hand-grasped mutton made with Yanchi domestic water were markedly higher than in the other two samples. The umami intensity of hand-grasped mutton made with superpure water was the highest, while that of hand-grasped mutton made with Fengtai domestic water was the lowest. Collectively, the results of electronic tongue and sensory analysis indicated that there were significant differences in taste characteristics between the three samples of hand-grasped mutton, which was related to the types and contents of trace metal elements in cooking water.

Key words: cooking water; hand-grasped mutton; taste; metal ions