Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
By Barbara McAllister
Word of the Day: Umami
The basic tastes that humans can detect are sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami. Umami is a Japanese word that means “essence of deliciousness” or “delicious taste.” The taste is described as the meaty, savory deliciousness that deepens flavors. It can be experienced in foods like mushrooms, cheeses, seafood and foods enhanced with monosodium glutamate (MSG). People taste umami through taste receptors that typically respond to glutamates and nucleotide, widely present in meat broths and fermented products. It is also called savory, but umami is the name it was given by the Japanese scientist who discovered it
Up until the 1900s, sweet, salty, sour, and bitter were the four official distinguishable tastes. A scientist in Tokyo isolated a fifth taste in 1907, after studying the compounds in kelp that his wife used when making stock. He called it “umami” and developed it into the now well-known additive MSG. Western scientists long ignored the findings of another distinct taste until 2002, when they were able to identify umami taste receptors on the human tongue. It took about 100 years for umami to become a Western trend. Today California has a well-known chain of restaurants called Umami Burger that feature umami flavored meats. You can get the Umami Classic Burger for about $12.
The science of taste continues to evolve. In 2016 scientists started looking at a carb taste or “starchiness” as another official taste to be recognized. It can’t officially be named a sixth taste until it meets the specific criteria of having its own recognizable set of tongue receptors that trigger a physiological response. This is a painstaking search as the tongue contains anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 taste buds. Because every person’s tongue is unique, like fingerprints, the tongue even has the potential to be a biometric authenticator. Researchers are working on ways to use the tongue as reliable means of positive identification. We could live in a world where criminals are required to stick their tongues out at the police.
