The Elusive Umami: Although it was discovered a century ago, umami still struggles for acceptance as the fifth basic taste the tongue recognizes. The term is Japanese for "savory" or "deliciousness." It is typically applied to meats, cheeses, broth and
other protein-heavy foods to describe their hearty nature. The sensation may be more subtle than salty or sweet, but researchers maintain it is unique and not a combination of any of the other basic tastes.
Image: Nick Rotondo
In Brief
- Resarchers have discovered tiny compounds that make foods taste sweeter, saltier and more savory than they really are, which could reduce the sugar, salt and monosodium glutamate typically added.
- Several of these taste enhancers are being tested in commercial foods.
- Whether people will consume fewer calories if their foods become tastier remains to be seen; people might eat lots of sweet foods for reasons that have nothing to do with taste.
More In This Article
-
Infographic
Enhancing Taste: How It Works
Humans are hardwired to love the sweet, savory and salty foods that provide the energy, protein and electrolytes we need. In an age of mass-produced products laden with sugar and salt, however, our taste proclivities can readily bring on obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes—all among society’s biggest health problems.
But what if a handful of tiny compounds could fool our brains into eating differently? That is the idea behind the new science of flavor modulation. Scientists who have unlocked the long-standing mystery of taste biology are developing inexpensive yet potent compounds that make foods taste sweeter, saltier and more savory (heartier) than they really are. By adding tiny amounts of these modulators to traditional foods, manufacturers could reduce the amount of sugar, salt and monosodium glutamate (MSG) needed to satisfy, resulting in healthier products.
This article was originally published with the title Magnifying Taste.
Already a Digital subscriber? Sign-in Now
If your institution has site license access, enter here.
See what we're tweeting about
12 Comments
Add CommentFantastic. Bioengineered additives that don't have to be disclosed on product labels. Thanks to science like this, now a whole new host of food products will be marketed as healthy and natural despite the fact that they are anything BUT healthy and natural.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMore and more the 'Nutrition Information' labels are becoming mere marketing gimmicks for those who THINK they are well-informed and health conscious. For as long as I can remember those labels never even bothered to distinguish between 'sugar' found in wheat and 'sugar' found in a Twinkie. Now they'll cut the 'sugar' by 1/4th, add in mystery chemical compound 83,817, and call it healthier.
I feel like I'm taking freaking crazy pills. Am I the only one in the world who DOESN'T want to be DECEIVED into THINKING they are eating naturally healthy food?!
Just one more reason to grow your own food I guess.
Well this necessarily isn't such a good idea because tricking the mind into believing the body is consuming something that really isn't there could be fatal. When one consumes a caffeinated drink we immediatley begin to act as if its already affecting our actions; when really the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's not taste that satisfies our bodies. It's nutrition. When food is full of nutrition our bodies have an automatic shutoff to eating too much.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf Seth Roberts' flavor-calorie hypothesis is right (see "The Shangri-La Diet"), this will have exactly the opposite of the intended effect.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf Seth Roberts theories are correct, this will have exactly the opposite of the desired effect. (See his book, "The Shangri-La Diet.")
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe science gives one step and the big industry already stays two steps ahead promptly to deliver new products to consumers. It is capitalism and our society of consume. But in that world our desire has place too. Science is good and not has to be hindered, but balanced conclusions of what is healthier or not is an imperative task to ours minds. We do not have to believe necessarily in propagandas of big brands. Biased fashioned opinions generally widespread across the media are not good counselors too. What would save us in that human environment is our sense to discern right from wrong. Vigilant institutions directed to protect the public consumer need to exist acting like safeguards to us. But more than that is God, if you believe; or the capacity of human society in put our common destiny in our hands.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisabrasileirosilva - HUH?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswow:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe protein encoded by this gene is a G protein-coupled receptor and is a component of the heterodimeric amino acid taste receptor T1R1+3. The T1R1+3 receptor responds to L-amino acids but not to D-enantiomers or other compounds. Most amino acids that are perceived as sweet activate T1R1+3, and this activation is strictly dependent on an intact T1R1+3 heterodimer. Multiple transcript variants encoding several different isoforms have been found for this gene.
(ref: http://www.nextbio.com/b/home/home.nb?q=T1R1+)
I think that this has already been done in reverse with foods: they have placed in additives that have turned our teens and adults into overeaters. It's normal today for kids to eat two DBL Chesseburgers and fries at one sitting, and still crave more foods a couple hours later. My father, years ago, told me when he saw me woof down a bag of salty potato chips: that I was craving the salt and oil not the high calooried snack. He said go and eat a 1tsp of salt and a Tb of olive oil. I did...and sure as anything - it killed my appetite!! And it's a lot less expensive for the people who need to save their money... so what the manufacturers save money on sugar and salt,a nd put phoney chemicals in our boullion which is practically all salt anyway-- give me a break. Laughable.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think it's horrible that manufacturers will be able to fool our taste buds. What will prevent them from selling us shit by making it taste better? It's my personal experience with food that you cannot fool the body. Eating almost all kinds of fruit make me sick, but since everybody says fruit are healthy and they're also tasteful,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI tried a way around it - when I cooked them with sugar to make a compote, and drank the juice every day during a month, I realized that was the cause of my seborrhea getting so worse! Before it was under control with all the OMEGA 3 fish oils I am regularly taking (in capsules).
That's enough proof for me.
Trick the brain, there's the first red flag. Leave the brain alone, it's doing fine. How about taking all of the additives out in foods they've already put on the market to make us eat more, pee more, poop more, smoke more, sleep more? My father saw me woof down a bag of potato chips once, many years ago, in his wisdom, he said you're body is not craving the chips, it's craving the salt and oil - if you don't want the calories on your arse take 1tsp of salt and 1Tb of olive oil and swirl that on your tongue and swallow. I did and it killed my appetite for chips. We need to train our teens and adults how to bake a small potato, and not order up fries, and 2DBL Cheeseburgers - wonder why one cheeseburger doesn't satisfy them? Could it be the additives? Ha.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's behavior modification time folks, not time to save corportations money on their sugar and salt invoices. Jeeze. But their march will go on....and like rats we will follow the Pied Piper of Corporations.
If I place a piece of iron or steel on my tongue, there is a definite unique flavor. If I place a piece of copper or nickel on my tongue, there is a different unique flavor for each metal. (I also remember tasting a piece of lead caming in my grandfather's stained glass shop as I child, and remember it having a unique flavor...but I'm not going to try that again to see if my memory is correct!!!). The odd thing is that I can distinguish between these metals on my tongue, but I canot smell any of these metals.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf there are only three (now, possibly four including 'umami') types of receptors on my tongue, How can I discern these complex flavors that apparently have no associated odor?
Other flavors that have a conspicuously absent odor include some types of prescription medications, like antibiotics, that I will continue to taste on my tongue for the first week or so that I am taking the medication. This flavor can be so strong that it spoils the taste of food. I presume I am secreting the chemicals out of my saliva, hence the taste, but my saliva continues to have no odor, and my sense of smell seems to be unchanged.
How can this be explained if I can only discern sweet, salt, bitter, and umami? I seem to be able to distinguish "shades" of bitter in the metals and medications. sacharrine does not taste like sugar, and imiitation salt does not taste like salt, so I seem to be able to distinguish "shades" of each of these flavors also.