[Synergistic effect and quantification of 5'-ribonucleotides in a chicken soup]

The international and national regulation permits the addition of flavour enhancers such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) and inosinic and guanilic acids and their fosfated salts (IMP or GMP, respectively) alone or combined to dehydrated mixtures of broths and soups in order to obtain a synergistic. The objectives of this study were: (1) to determine, through a sensorial panel, the synergistic effect on the flavour of a dehydrated chicken soup to which flavour enhancers were added and (2) quantify the 5'-ribonucleotides in such matrix. The intensity of the chicken flavour was determined using a previously trained 6-member panel. The 5'-ribonucleotidos were determined using the HPLC technique. The results using the panel demonstrated that the combination of GMS, IMF and GMF used potentiates significantly (p < 0.05) the flavour of the dehydrated chicken soup, which allows the use of less quantity of them to obtain the same effect on the flavour. The chemical analysis of the 5'-ribonucleotidos in the dehydrated chicken soup reflected a percentage of recovery of 93.6% for MSG and 90.5% for IMF.