What is umami?
What is umami?
Umami is the fifth basic taste, after sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Pungent tastes are considered painful and astringent, as astringent tastes are considered astringent tastes and are therefore classified as auxiliary tastes.
Umami is the general term for the taste of substances that combine glutamic acid, a type of amino acid, and the nucleic acids inosinic acid and guanylic acid with minerals such as sodium and potassium. It is not a distinct taste like saltiness or sweetness, but a faint taste, which is influenced by the combination with other tastes and enhances the flavour.
It has been proven that glutamic acid, inosinic acid and guanylic acid, typical umami substances, are dramatically more vital when combined than when used alone. This is called the ‘synergistic effect of umami’.
The Japanese discovered umami.
Umami was discovered by Dr Kikunae Ikeda of Japan in 1907 and is a new taste that became widely recognised overseas after a research group at Howard Medical College found umami receptors in 2002.
Glutamic acid itself was discovered by Dr. Ritthausen in Germany in 1866. It was not a new substance even in 1907, but Kikunae first established that monosodium glutamate was an umami substance.
In Buddhist cuisine, a type of Japanese cooking based on Buddhist teachings, there is also an ancient taste called ‘light taste’, which is thought to refer to umami.
What kind of taste is umami?
Unlike distinct tastes such as sweet and salty, umami is a light, subtle and persistent taste that spreads across the tongue. Therefore, tasting umami in everyday cooking is complicated, and salty or sweet stimuli often hide it.
Umami is the first taste a baby encounters.
Breast milk contains high levels of the umami ingredient glutamic acid. Amniotic fluid also contains glutamic acid, indicating that babies taste umami before birth. Kelp broth from Japanese kelp contains high levels of glutamic acid, which is almost the same as the amount in breast milk.
Umami taste gives a sense of satisfaction.
The five basic tastes can be divided into two main types: the ‘upper’ type, which activates the brain’s reward system when tasted, and the ‘downer’ type, which is deep and long-lasting. The upper system corresponds to sweet, salty and other fatty tastes. In contrast, the downer tastes include umami, bitterness and acidity.
The original role of the sense of taste was a survival function in times of inadequate food availability. Still, in many developed countries, where the industry has grown and there is no longer any food shortage, the intuitive sense of taste information is no longer utilised.
Excessively refined, naturally non-existent, highly concentrated sweet and salty tastes bring about cravings and euphoria similar to bites and drugs, while umami tastes increase satisfaction and suppresses appetite.
Health benefits of umami
Appetite suppression effect
Research at the University of Sussex in the UK has shown that umami increases the sense of satisfaction from eating and suppresses appetite. Participants who drank soup containing umami tastes felt more satisfied and reduced their lunch intake.
Salt reduction effect
Simply reducing the amount of salt used makes the food tasteless, but adding umami makes it easier to feel satisfied and gives it a richer flavour.
It Relieves fatigue, activates the brain, improves immunity and reduces the risk of colorectal cancer.
Glutamic acid, one of the umami components, is believed to help relieve fatigue, activate the brain and improve immunity. Research conducted by the Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands and others has shown that people who consume high levels of glutamic acid have a lower risk of developing colorectal cancer.
Salivation effect
Salivary glands are stimulated by taste and secrete saliva. In particular, umami has been found to stimulate salivation more than other tastes. Using umami is critical to reducing taste disorders and healthy longevity in people with ageing
Foods with high levels of umami
Depending on the umami substance, different foods contain high levels of it.
Glutamic acid is mainly found in vegetables and seaweed, while inosinic acid is found in animal products such as meat and fish. Guanylic acid is found in dried mushrooms, such as dried shiitake mushrooms.
Umami substances are also found in traditional foods such as Japanese soy sauce, Thai fish sauce and cheese, as they increase with ageing and fermentation.
The umami taste that can be tasted not only in Japan but everywhere in the world is a benefit of the local history and people.
Difference between ‘Umami(=as tastes)’ and ‘Umai (=tasty, delicious)’, redefinition of ‘deliciousness’.
Umami” is often confused with the Japanese word “Umai, Oishii”, meaning “Tasty, Delicious”, and is often used as an advertising expression, so it is not well understood in Japan.
The reality is that ‘umami’ is used heavily for stimulating, intense flavours that are diverse in salt and sugar, and even for processed foods, without fully bringing out the natural umami of the ingredients.
Let’s redefine ‘delicious’ with Umami!
There are two essential things to do to bring out the umami in ingredients: firstly, to cook without using salt or sweeteners as much as possible to bring out the natural flavour of the elements, and secondly, to savour them carefully.
Using salt and sugar allows for a stimulating and uplifting meal in a short cooking time, often described as ‘delicious’. The trade-off is that excessive salt, sugar and fat lead to obesity and cause various health problems.
Instead of assuming the stimulation of sugar and salt as ‘tasty’, enjoy the original taste of the ingredients.
Redefine ‘tasty’ as ‘gentle’.
Aalivation effect activates the brain Anchovies Appetite suppression effect Buddhist cuisine Cheese colorectal cancer dietary fibre Dried kombu Dried mushrooms Dried shiitake Dry masurooms Dulse EPA improves immunity interview Iodine Keisuke Matsushima kelp minerals Nice Nori Oliveoil producer Recipes salt reduction SDGs Seavegetables Sea vegetables Seaweed Shiitake Tastes vegitarian Vitamins Wakame well-being Yoga zen
Reference
(※2)“Basic information on umami” Umami Information Centre
(*3 ) ’The strongest “salt-free” cooking theory’ Written by Keisuke Matsushima/Published by Shufuno-tomo corporation.
(*4)Una Masic and Martin R Yeomans，”Umamiflavor enhances appetite but also increase satiety”, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition