Flavor improvement of low-fat peanuts by a synergistic combination of enzymatic hydrolysis and restrictive defatting.

Driven by increasing consumer demand for healthier diets, low-fat peanut products are becoming popular. However, flavor loss and structural disruption caused by fat reduction are the challenges. In this study, a combined strategy of restrictive defatting and situ enzymatic hydrolysis was used. Peanuts were firstly defatted by hydraulic pressing at 30 MPa, to 36.09%. Subsequently, the defatted peanuts were treated with Sucrase and Alcalase solution, and the structural gaps of the defatted peanut were filled with aqueous enzymatic solutions, which enhanced the reaction of enzymes with protein and sugar and facilitated structural recovery and the release of flavor precursors. GC-MS, sensory evaluation, and electronic tongue analysis were employed to comprehensively assess the flavor characteristics of low-fat peanuts. The concentration of volatile organic compounds increased from 5169.86 μg/kg in the untreated group to 92,953.75 μg/kg in the simultaneous enzymatic treatment group, accompanied by marked increases in pyrazines, DDMP, and benzaldehyde.