Chem. Senses 27: 845-846,
2002
© Oxford University Press 2002
LETTER |
What's in a Name? Are MSG and Umami the Same?
Departments of Psychology and Neurobiology and Behavior, Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-7601, USA
Address correspondence to: Bruce P. Halpern, Departments of Psychology and Neurobiology and Behavior, Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-7601, USA. e-mail: bph1{at}cornell.edu
The Japanese word `umami' has a long past. It was already in use during the
Edo period (Tokugawa Shogunate) of Japanese history, which ended in 1868
(Mason, 1993
). In Japanese,
`umami' often connotes a cognitive category
(Yamaguchi and Ninomiya, 1998)
of taste, or perhaps flavor, with definitions that include deliciousness,
flavor, relish, gusto and zest (Inoue,
1983). In effect, the Japanese word `umami' can denote a really
good taste of something—a taste or flavor that is an especially
appropriate exemplar of the flavor of that thing
(Backhouse, 1978).
Recognition of a role for sodium salts of glutamic acid in flavor has a
shorter history. In 1909 Dr Kikunae Ikeda reported the isolation of metallic
salts of glutamic acid from a brown kelp [tangle, genus Laminaria
(Guiry, 2002), `konbu' or
'kombu' in Japanese] commonly used in Japanese cuisine, and recognition that
the (mono) sodium salt of glutamic acid imparted a familiar and highly
desirable flavor to foods (Ikeda,
1909; Murata et al.,
1985). Dr Ikeda noted that the flavor could be described as
delicious, nice or palatable (`umai' in Japanese). It seemed to him to be
related to his impressions when he ate meat or bonito (dried marine fish
flakes; `katsuobushi' in Japanese), and was based upon a taste that differed
from generally recognized basic tastes. He accepted the suggestion that this
taste could temporarily be called `umami'. In a later publication, in English
(Ikeda, 1912), he chose to use
the description `glutamate taste'.
The taste of monosodium glutamate (MSG) by itself does not in any sense
represent deliciousness. Instead, it is often described as unpleasant, and as
bitter, salty or soapy (Yamaguchi,
1998; Halpern,
2000,
2002). However, when MSG is
added in low concentrations to appropriate foods, the flavor, pleasantness and
acceptability of the food increases
(Halpern, 2000). These
differences illustrate the distinction between the taste of a single tastant
and the effects upon flavor of tastants in a food
(Lawless, 1996).
MSG is a tastant, as is salt (NaCl). We can study transduction mechanisms
for NaCl or MSG, and peripheral and central gustatory neural responses, in a
particular species, while recognizing that the gustatory mechanisms and
responses discovered in one species may be quite different from those in
another (Halpern, 2002). For
human responses to NaCl, we talk about salt taste, or saltiness. In similar
fashion, for MSG it is appropriate to speak of glutamate taste, as Dr Ikeda
did (Ikeda, 1912). Flavor,
derived from human descriptions of foods and beverages, depends upon mixtures
of tastants (and odorants) but represents aspects that emerge from the array
of tastants and odorants, and their matrix
(Halpern, 1997). In general,
individual tastants are not described as delicious. In isolation, the taste of
neither NaCl nor MSG is delicious. In similar fashion, naturally occurring
tastants, such as potassium chloride or phosphate salts, amino acids like
glycine, arginine and alanine, and nucleotides such as adenosine
5'-monophosphate, taken alone, are not described as delicious. However,
these same tastants, combined in appropriate proportions with NaCl and
glutamic acid (or MSG), yield the flavor of boiled crab
(Konosu et al., 1987),
and may be characterized as delicious, perhaps with reports of `umami'.
Acknowledgments
C. Kobayashi and F.T. Kotas provided valuable information; P.A. Halpern and T. Yamamoto provided comments on the manuscript.
References
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Guiry, M.S. (2002) Seaweed site. http://www.seaweed.ie/defaultfriday.html (cited August 24).
Halpern, B.P. (1997) Psychophysics of taste. In Beauchamp, G.K. and Bartoshuk, L.M. (eds), Tasting and Smelling. Handbook of Perception and Cognition, 2nd edn. San Diego, CA, Academic Press, pp. 77-123.
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