Beyond the four better known tastes of salty, sweet, bitter, and sour, umami finds its place as the fifth basic taste evoking savory, full-bodied, and meaty flavor sensations. It is best described as a savory or “meaty” flavor.
Umami is an integral part of savory contributing to the taste dimension along with salty. There is a synergy observed between salt and umami taste (Halpern, 2000), meaning that one can reduce salt by umami compounds (and vice versa). However, equally important is the savory aroma to obtain a full savoury perception.
In cooking generally, the effect of adding umami compounds is an increase in savoriness, richness and an almost tactile mouth-filling quality. Mostly, this is achieved by the addition of common ingredients in soups, sauces and stews such as glutamate-rich vegetables and meats.
Umami is the taste imparted by a number of substances. These include glutamate, a salt of glutamic acid, specific ribonucleotides, and glutamate salts including monosodium glutamate (MSG), potassium glutamate, and calcium glutamate among others.
Taste of umami
