AsianScientist (Feb. 4, 2015) – The umami taste could have an important and beneficial role in health, according to research published in the open access journal Flavour. The journal’s special series of articles ‘The Science of Taste’ also finds that ‘kokumi’ substances, which modify flavor, could improve the taste of low-fat foods.
Guest editor Ole Mouritsen, professor of biophysics at the University of Southern Denmark, said: “In general, our understanding of taste is inferior to our knowledge of the other human senses. An understanding and description of our sensory perception of food requires input from many different scientific disciplines.”
Despite the widely held belief that monosodium glutamate (MSG) is an unhealthy addition to food, researchers from Tohoku University, show that the taste it triggers—umami—is important for health, especially in elderly people.
In a small study of 44 elderly patients, the researchers showed that some elderly patients suffer a loss of the umami taste sensation, and that all of the patients studied complained of appetite and weight loss, resulting in poor overall health. Umami taste receptors also reportedly exist in the gut, suggesting that the umami taste sensation functions in nutrient sensation and modulating digestion in the gut, which could be important for maintaining a healthy daily life.
The researchers suggest that diseases suffered by elderly patients and side effects from their medications could cause taste disorders and reduced salivation. They also found that treatment to improve salivary flow had a beneficial effect on the patients’ taste sensations and could help patients with reduced umami sensitivity.
‘Kokumi’ substances, as found in garlic, onions and scallops, are known to enhance basic tastes when combined with other flavors, despite having no taste themselves. In a study of 29 people, published in Flavour, researchers showed that the addition of a kokumi substance significantly enhanced thick flavor, aftertaste and oiliness in reduced-fat peanut butter. This suggests that kokumi substances could improve the flavour of low-fat foods.
The articles can be found at:
Sasano et al. (2015) The Important Role of Umami Taste in Oral and Overall Health.
Miyamura et al. (2015) Flavour improvement of reduced-fat peanut butter by addition of a kokumi peptide, γ-glutamyl-valyl-glycine.
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Source: BioMed Central; Photo: Star5112/Flickr/CC.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
