Organic Acids Profile Comparison of Spiced Soy Sauces Prepared with Various Food Ingredients including Astragali Radix

Objectives: Soy sauce is a famous traditional Asian sauce. Astragali Radix, the ischolar_main of Astragalusmembranaceus Bunge, is an Oriental medicinal material widely used as the food ingredients in Korea. Methods/Statistical analysis: The spiced soy sauces with boiling meats, fish and mushrooms were mixed with Astragali Radix water extract with the different ratios. In this study, the characteristics such as pH, total acids, buffering capacity, solid contents of the spiced soy sauces (Matkanjang in Korean) were investigated with the identification and comparison of the ratio of the organic acids identified in the final products. Findings: The spiced soy sauce with Astragali Radix water extract showed higher pH value. Total organic acids contents decreased as the amount of Astragali Radix water extract increased. The spiced soy sauce of mushrooms showed the better buffering capacity than others. Twenty free organic acids were detected in the spiced soy sauces mixed with Astragali Radix water extract. Three of them were not detected in the original soy sauce. The four organic acids such as oxalic acid, 2-hydroxy caproic acid, malic acid and linoleic acid were detected in the spiced soy sauces, but they were under the detection limit in the raw soy sauce. Improvements/Applications: These results will be able to be used for the quality control of the spiced soy sauce that is one of the most popular traditional sauces in Korea.