Umami: the fifth taste exists and can improve your relationship with food –

Salty, sweet, sour, bitter and… umami?! So it is. Despite common sense always teaching us that there are only four flavors of the food we consume, there is another one out there that few people know about. Umami means “tasty, tasty” and was discovered by a Japanese researcher named Kikunae Ikeda in 1908. At the time, he began to be interested in the different taste he felt when eating a seaweed very common in your region, kombu. Since then, he began to do a lot of research and discoveries about umami, which only in the year 2000 was recognized as the fifth taste, after scientists identified receptors in the language that perceive it.

The flavor appears due to the presence of a substance called glutamate. It is a free amino acid, a minimal structure that is also present in meat, for example, but in longer chains. It is very important for our muscle and brain functioning. “It’s like a string of pearls. Each of the pearls is an amino acid. By unraveling this necklace, we have free amino acids, which provide umami”, explains the doctor in food science Hellen Maluly, adviser to the Umami Committee. But it is not only in meat that it can be found: it is also found in tomatoes, cheeses, corn, peas, seaweed and mushrooms.

how umami works

To understand how umami works in your mouth, Helen recommends doing an experiment at home. Take a handful of each food: Japanese peanuts, 70% chocolate, banana jam, cranberry and parmesan. It’s going to be pretty simple to differentiate what’s salty, what’s sweet and what’s sour from that list, isn’t it? “Chocolate, for example, has a substance called theobromine. It is what gives bitterness and a certain astringency to the food”, he explains.

The portion that best represents umami is the Parmesan. “All aged foods have a lot of glutamate. This is because the amino acid chains are broken over time by the bacteria”, says Hellen Maluly. When you put cheese in your mouth, you immediately start salivating. And even after swallowing the food, you still taste it for a long time in your mouth. That’s umami.

And you know that story we learn at school that each part of the language is responsible for a taste? Forget it. They are felt throughout the region. “And this also opens up an interesting discussion about the differences between taste and flavor. I like it, you feel it in your mouth. Taste, with all the human senses. When we taste coffeefor example, we perceive its smell, its warmth through the cup, we see its dark color and only then try it”, explains the specialist.

some howevers

After the discovery, Kikunae Ikeda tried to reproduce this property that he found naturally in food in the laboratory. And it did. The result takes the name of monosodium glutamate (you may have seen it around in supermarkets, it is very similar to salt), a product resulting from a chemical reaction and which is used by the food industry to give industrialized products more flavor. And, because it is always associated with much more caloric and fatty, ended up becoming a kind of villain for those who value healthy eating. Since then, studies have been carried out to assess its real effects on the body. Some talk about migrainesothers in dependence, but the verdict of science has not yet been given.

Output found

Well, we all know how beneficial it is for our health to avoid processed foods and fast foods. But why not enjoy the benefits of umami taste in natural and very nutritious ingredients? “Research in England and Japan gave soups with umami ingredients for elderly hospitalized patients. As we age, we lose part of our sense of taste, which is why many seniors lose their appetitesays Helen. The results could not be better: umami stimulated salivation in these people, consequently improving the patients’ chewing, as well as the pleasure of eating and the feeling of more satiety. Many oncologists, including Drauzio Varella, use the same strategy with people with cancer. See his testimonial:

Not to mention that the fact that we pay more attention to the umami taste also encourages the mindfulness during meals, a widespread practice that preaches greater awareness in the tasks we carry out. “It helps us a lot to meditate on what we eat, as well as better understand some processes. When at what moment are we satisfied”, says the expert. Having a broth or preparing a salad with umami foods before the main course also positively influences your relationship with food. “The Japanese, for example, drink miso as part of a daily ritual. This ensures that you feel warm and relaxed, and prevents you from attacking the main meal.”

She even gives tips on delicious and nutritious recipes so you can enjoy the umami flavor and improve your relationship with what you put in your mouth.

Chickpeas sautéed with leek and rosemary

– (Umami Committee/Disclosure)

Salad in Parmesan Basket

– (Umami Committee/Disclosure)

homemade carrot bread

Creamy rice with shimeji

– (Umami Committee/Disclosure)