Glutamate: from discovery as a food flavor to role as a basic taste (umami)
Open Access
- 1 September 2009
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Elsevier BV in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Vol. 90 (3), 719S-722S
- https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.27462d
Abstract
In 1908 Kikunae Ikeda identified the unique taste component of konbu (kelp) as the salt of glutamic acid and coined the term umami to describe this taste. After Ikeda's discovery, other umami taste substances, such as inosinate and guanylate, were identified. Over the past several decades, the properties of these umami substances have been characterized. Recently, umami has been shown to be the fifth basic taste, in addition to sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.Keywords
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