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June 4, 2025
Marianne von Waldenfels
As indescribable as it is pleasant: Umami means something like "simply delicious" and is considered the fifth taste quality alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter
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Travel opens up new horizons, they say. Sometimes completely new worlds open up, as was the case with Kikunae Ikeda. A study visit led the Japanese man to Europe in 1899 for two years at the University of Leipzig. There, for the first time in his life, the chemistry student tried asparagus, tomatoes, and ripe cheese. Since none of these foods tasted sweet, sour, salty, or bitter, he concluded that there must be a fifth taste besides the four known ones. After his return to Japan, he began to search for scientific evidence for his thesis. Lebensmittel Officially, Ikeda discovered the fifth taste in the spring of 1907 after his wife brought home seaweed that is traditionally used for dashi broth in Japan. Upon tasting it, he suddenly noticed the same unique flavor he had discovered in the completely new foods for him in Germany. Ikeda conducted various experiments in the university's lab with the "Laminaria japonica" seaweed to find out the reason behind its special savoriness. He isolated the amino acid glutamic acid and concluded that it was responsible for the aromatic taste.
Japan Japan Algeseaweed through to find out the reason for its special savoriness. He isolated the amino acid glutamic acid and concluded that it was responsible for the aromatic taste.
He called it 'umami', which literally means 'simply delicious'. However, it would take almost another century before it was scientifically recognized that there were not four, but five flavors. It wasn't until the year 2000 that a team of neuroscientists from the University of Miami discovered the taste receptors TAS1R1 and TAS1R3 on the tongue - the corresponding sensory cells for umami. The researchers thus proved that umami really exists - and is triggered by the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG).
A major contributor to the fact that umami - often referred to as 'the taste of happiness' in Japanese cuisine - is now a familiar term in Europe and America is Dr. Kumiko Ninomiya. The biochemist has been working for the Umami Information Center since 1982. 'After the study by scientists from Miami was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience in 2002, the British media reported on it,' says the Japanese scientist. 'Then the story spread within three to four days in Europe, the United States, and various Asian countries. This event led to the recognition of the term umami also in academic circles, among researchers, and .
Previously, many people believed that umami was a flavor found only in Japanese cuisine or not part of the basic flavors." The famous chef and owner of the Nobu chain, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa - known as Nobu - is considered one of the pioneers of umami in the kitchen. "When using umami in cooking, I always make sure to keep a balance with the other four flavors. The balanced combination of umami gives the flavors a rounded quality," says the top chef". He also gave Ninomiya the nickname 'Umami Mama.' 'We met in 2004,' the scientist recounts. 'Subsequently, we organized a series of sake and umami tastings together. One evening he suddenly introduced me as Umami Mama.'
She describes the specialness of umami like this: "It lasts longer than other tastes, gives more depth. Umami stays on the tongue longer and stimulates saliva flow. It's as if one's Water mouth is watering. Umami is also perceived on the entire surface of the tongue." Besides glutamate, two other substances are important for umami: Guanylate and Inosinate. Biochemically, they are nucleotides and each enhance the umami taste of glutamate manifold. This is referred to as the synergistic effect of umami.
"Although Japanese cuisine has codified the term, chefs from all cultures understand the balance and depth it brings to a dish," explains Thomas Keller, owner and chef of the legendary restaurant "The French Laundry" in California. The fifth taste profile today also plays a role in kitchens play an important role for chefs like Heston Blumenthal ('The Fat Duck'), Alexandre Bourdas ('SaQua Na'), or Tohru Nakamura ('Tohru'). The umami effect admittedly openly hides behind many of their sophisticated taste fireworks.
While industrially produced glutamate rightly has a bad reputation and can cause headaches headaches and nausea in sensitive people, the glutamate found in natural foods usually does not have a harmful effect. So is umami healthy or unhealthy? Dr. Ninomiya: 'If enough umami substances like glutamate, inosinate or guanylate are present in the dishes, salt can be reduced. Some studies have shown that it is possible to reduce salt by 30 to 40 percent salt by using ingredients rich in umami.'
