When specifying types of flavors, it is usually stated that there is sweet, salty, sour and bitter. However, there is another type of taste, for which there are receptors and which is called umami, and it represents the taste of meat, meat broth and the like. The closest thing to describe is that it would taste like soy sauce. The existence of such a taste and receptor for it was internationally recognized by the academic community in 1987 at the Umami International Symposium held in Hawaii.
What molecules do umami create? We know that hydronium ions, ie. H + ions create a feeling of sour, some other ions are salty, sugars are sweet, but what is umami? It is the taste of glutamate, more precisely, the amino acid L-glutamate, salts of this amino acid such as sodium glutamate, a common flavor enhancer or various 5'-nucleotides such as guanosine monophosphate or inosine monophosphate.
The sensation of a "meaty", "spicy" taste that lasts a long time in the mouth is caused by the presence of a carboxyl ion (RCOO-), derived from glutamate, which irritates specific receptors on the tongue. The name umami itself comes from the Japanese language (う ま 味) and means “pleasant, spicy taste”. The word was coined in 1908 by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, who isolated glutamate, and called sodium glutamate ajinomoto, which means "essence of taste", and began the industrial production of glutamate. It was he who confirmed that sodium glutamate was responsible for the specific pleasant taste of tomatoes, parmesan, meat and algae, and hypothesized that people developed a sense of this taste when they began to eat protein more intensely.
Kikunae Ikeda wondered what gave such a specific taste to dashi, the paste-shaped foundation from which miso is made. The basis for dashi is one brown alga (Phaeophyceae), Laminaria japonica (Saccharina japonica), also known as "kelp". It was from the extract of this algae that he was able to isolate the said glutamate.
About 50 peptides cause a sensation of umami taste. It is interesting to note that umami balances the taste and rounds off the aroma of the dish, so this word has become very popular among chefs. However, if you look at the composition of various spices for dishes and sauces, chips and other snacks, you will probably find in the list that one of the ingredients is glutamate, usually in the form of sodium glutamate. Glutamate itself is a very important neurotransmitter in vertebrates - about 90% of synapses in the human brain are of the glutamine type, and glutamic acid plays an important role in learning and memory processes.
However, sodium glutamate, like other additives, was blacklisted: it is associated with the "Chinese restaurant food" syndrome and has been accused of causing unpleasant symptoms, such as headaches, stomach aches and dizziness, and has become a very undesirable ingredient. This has been shown to be true - sodium glutamate can cause such reactions, but if ingested in high concentrations,> 5 g. This is really possible: according to the FDA, adults can take up to 13 grams of glutamate a day, but it should be emphasized that not all of this glutamate is in the form of sodium glutamate. Occasional use of things that contain glutamate, that is, reasonable use of this additive in food will not lead to some of the described symptoms. It should also be noted that different people have different tolerances, and that asthmatics are more sensitive to sodium glutamate than the rest of the population.
Umami is what lures us, what makes us enjoy it. If this sensation is caused by naturally occurring substances in the food or just a reasonable amount of additives, then the food should be enjoyed. But the violence to create umami taste has never yielded gourmet results. Also,according to some research, umami is the taste that we can best feel on airplane flights because due to the “white noise” on the flight we lose our sense of other tastes. So, the next time you travel by plane, order Bloody Mary, which has a lot of umami aroma because of the tomatoes ... or soup, if they serve it.
They say it’s very tasty, I haven’t tried it yet but would love to try that flavor!
I could never eat live fish meat.