GC: n
S: The Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/apr/09/umami-fifth-taste (last access: 24 December 2019); NCBI – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4515277/ (last access: 24 December 2019).
N: 1. First Known Use of umami as a noun: 1963. As an adjective: 1978. History and Etymology for umami as a noun: Japanese, savoriness, flavor.
2. Noun: The taste sensation that is produced by several amino acids and nucleotides (such as glutamate and aspartate) and has a rich or meaty flavor characteristic of cheese, cooked meat, mushrooms, soy, and ripe tomatoes.
Adjective: Being, inducing, or marked by one of the five basic taste sensations that is typically induced by several amino acids and nucleotides (such as glutamate and aspartate) and has a rich or meaty flavor characteristic of cheese, cooked meat, mushrooms, soy, and ripe tomatoes.
3. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) was first identified as a flavour enhancer in 1908 by Japanese chemist Ikeda Kikunae, who found that soup stocks made from seaweed contained high levels of the substance. MSG elicits a unique taste, known as umami, that is different from the other basic tastes (bitter, salty, sour, sweet) and thus enhances the complex flavours of meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetables. Ikeda’s discovery led to the commercial production of MSG from seaweed. It is now produced using a bacterial fermentation process with starch or molasses as carbon sources and ammonium salts as nitrogen sources.
4. Three umami substances (glutamate, 5′-inosinate, and 5′-guanylate) were found by Japanese scientists, but umami has not been recognized in Europe and America for a long time. In the late 1900s, umami was internationally recognized as the fifth basic taste based on psychophysical, electrophysiological, and biochemical studies. Three umami receptors (T1R1 + T1R3, mGluR4, and mGluR1) were identified. There is a synergism between glutamate and the 5′-nucleotides. Among the above receptors, only T1R1 + T1R3 receptor exhibits the synergism. In rats, the response to a mixture of glutamate and 5′-inosinate is about 1.7 times larger than that to glutamate alone. In human, the response to the mixture is about 8 times larger than that to glutamate alone. Since glutamate and 5′-inosinate are contained in various foods, we taste umami induced by the synergism in daily eating. Hence umami taste induced by the synergism is a main umami taste in human.
5. Known as the taste associated with glutamate and monosodium glutamate, umami is the Japanese word for ‘delicious’ or ‘savory’ but is regarded as broth-like or meaty tasting in Western cultures. The umami taste is most common in Asian foods, soups and stews, mushrooms, tomatoes and aged meats and cheeses.
S: 1 & 2. MW – https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/umami (last access: 24 December 2019). 3. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/science/monosodium-glutamate#ref120573 (last access: 24 December 2019). 4. NCBI – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4515277/ (last access: 24 December 2019). 5. TERMIUM PLUS – https://bit.ly/39bBFQq (last access: 24 December 2019).
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CR: amino acid
