| abstract |
The process comprises extracting an essential component and RNA-containing yeast cells, decomposing the RNA into nucleotides using 5'-phosphodiesterase and, if desired, acting deaminase to prepare yeast extract. In this process, a cell strain capable of yielding crude RNA in a high content is used and, upon decomposition of the RNA into nucleotides, and aqueous solution containing the yeast cells is previously heat-treated at 80 to 120C to thereby convert the whole of the RNA into tasty 5'-nucleotide while inhibiting its conversion into 2'- or 3'-nucleotide. In this conversion, an alkali, common salt, and a surfactant are not necessarily used in large amounts unlike in the prior art, and hence the whole extract component can be directly converted into a seasoning material containing 5'-GMP and 5'-IMP in large amounts. Particularly, a yeast extract obtained by using 10 % or more, preferably 15 % or more, yeast variant provides a seasoning material with a particularly excellent taste. A novel yeast strain containing RNA in a large amount, $i(Candida utilis) CSB 6316, is also disclosed. |