The five elements of Taste

First, we need a basic understanding of taste sensory mechanisms. Have you ever accidentally picked up someone else’s drink or taken a bite of food, thinking it was something else? You may like the accidentally ingested item perfectly well, but find yourself sputtering, because the taste is so different from what you expected.

Knowledge of this process sets the stage for designing products that exploit the complex chain of events involved in taste perception, for example in designing reduced-salt products that still taste salty, or in sweet tasting products with lower sugar. Part of tasting is in the expectation, and a major part of flavor is imparted by smell. Hold your nose and you lose a lot of flavor, but can still perceive the basic tastes. Salt still tastes salty and lemon juice still tastes sour. Salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami compose our current list of tastes. Other flavors have been described as tastes in other cultures. Some involve texture, temperature or other sensations, such as metallic, minty, fatty, spicy or astringent. To be considered a taste, rather than a flavor, however, requires a dedicated sensing mechanism.

Taking its name from the Japanese, umami is a pleasant savory taste imparted by glutamate, a type of amino acid, which occur naturally in many foods including cheeses, meats, rich stocks, soy sauce, shellfish, fatty fish, mushrooms, tomatoes and wine. Aged or fermented foods also provide umami. On the other hand, umami is also commercially produced and it is known as monosodium glutamate (MSG). Meaning deliciousness, umami becomes a natural flavor enhancer ingredient that brings depth and balance to your food without drowning subtle tastes. Umami ignites flavor and awakens taste buds. As the taste of umami itself is subtle and blends well with other tastes to expand and round out flavors, most people don’t recognize umami when they encounter it, but it plays an important role making food taste delicious.

In the past several years, many western researchers have begun to recognize a fifth taste, akin to the savory taste long recognized as the fifth taste in Japanese cuisine. Called umami, this fifth taste does not have a simple English translation. Rather, for some people it refers to a food’s savory characteristic; for others to the richness or fullness of dish’s overall taste, and still others, the meatiness or meaty taste of a dish.

Often food professionals and others refer to tastes in addition to sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Typically, they describe something as pungent, hot, spicy or piquant or something that is astringent, sharp or dry. None of these terms, however, fit the definition of a taste, as none are detected solely by taste buds. Rather, these sensations are detected by nerve endings embedded in the fleshy part of the mouth. These nerves, when “irritated” by the presence of compounds such as piperine (the active ingredient in black peppercorns) or capsaicin (the active ingredient in chiles), register a burning sensation that the brain translates as the hot and spicy “taste” of Szechuan or Tex-Mex cuisines, for example.  

 Some of the food items high in Umami are; Sea food (Kombu, Seaweed, Katsuobush/Dried bonito flakes, Niboshi/Small dried sardines, Bonito, Mackerel, Sea bream, Tuna, Cod. Prawns, Squid, Oysters, Shellfish), Meat (Beef , Pork, Chicken). Vegetables (Tomatoes, Shiitake mushrooms, Enokitake mushrooms, Truffles, Soy beans, Potatoes Sweet, potatoes, Chinese cabbage, Carrots, asparagus) and other ingredients like Parmesan Cheese, Green tea, soy sauce, Chicken Egg, Oyster Sauce.

Everything old is new again. The “new” taste, umami, was identified almost 100 years ago, in 1908, by Dr. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University. After identifying umami, Dr. Ikeda introduced the new seasoning monosodium glutamate, or MSG, which has a strong umami taste. It was first marketed in 1909. Dr. Ikeda was later named one of Japan’s top 10 inventors by the Japanese Government Patent Office
The MSG Controversy, despite government reports claiming that MSG is safe, in typical doses. Yet, The FDA requires labeling products that have free amino acid products added, acknowledging that some people do have problems after its consumption. Because the complaints continued, to summarize recent data and evaluate the safety of glutamate salts. The invited experts concluded that a maximum intake of 16mg/kg is safe, but called for further research on the effects of high MSG doses in the presence of impaired blood brain barrier function.

All sorts of diseases from diabetes and obesity-related complaints, to migraines, asthma, retinal damage, neurological problems, birth defects, and learning disabilities have been attributed to the consumption of MSG and other free glutamate-containing foods. Many websites warn consumers to avoid free glutamate-containing food additives, and test kits are being developed to detect their presence in foods.

The perception of food safety is more important to most people than the perception of good taste.