New+Discovery+of+Taste


 * __ New Discovery of Taste __**

Professor Kikunae Ikeda had worked over 100 years. He found a distinct taste name “umami” taken from Japanese word which means delicious. It is a pleasant savoury taste imparted by glutamate (a type of amino acid) and ribonucluotides. Example of umami seasoning are monosodium glutamate (MSG) and nucleotides. One example of product is Ajinomoto. The market for umami seasonings is growing 4% per annum. Umami is known as the fifth basic human taste, complementing the sweet, salty, bitter and sour tastes. Ikeda identified that the amino acid glutamic acid is isolated from Kombu seaweed which contribute to this unique taste of umami.

Umami, which will simply be labelled as ‘flavouring’ in the EU, is already FEMA (Flavor and Extract Manufacturers As­sociation) registered/approved, which means that it can be used in the US. It has been no­tified in the EU inventory list, so when that list has been ap­proved [expected at the end of 2010], it can be commercially used within the EU. The main applica­tions for umami relate to wherever MSG is used for example bouillons, gravies, ready meals, snacks etc. But while the main intention of the ingredient is to replace MSG, there are a lot of synergies between umami and other components. Umami-rich recipes can deliver rich, satisfying cuisine with lower levels of fat.

 As a conclusion, there’s still plenty of room for devel­opment in the umami space. If anyone of you have any opinion on umami can comment here so I can more understand the physical and functional properties of umami. Thanks a lot… From mun lai...><