Science: Taste, umami and cooking plans

Listen up class, today is about the human tongue, how taste works and what umami (savoriness, deliciousness) is. We'll start with the tongue and the fundamental tastes it can detect.

Yup class, there are only five kinds of taste sensors in the human tongue. All the complexity and nuance comes from just those five. Imagine what things would taste like if there were a few more.

Umami is found naturally in various foods.

Umami taste receptors detect MSG or monosodium glutamate and some nucleotides.

Umami has several characteristics.

Wikipedia gives some background:

A loanword from Japanese (うま味), umami can be translated as "pleasant savory taste". Scientists have debated whether umami was a basic taste since Kikunae Ikeda first proposed its existence in 1908. In 1985, the term umami was recognized as the scientific term to describe the taste of glutamates and nucleotides at the first Umami International Symposium in Hawaii. Umami represents the taste of the amino acid L-glutamate and 5'-ribonucleotides such as guanosine monophosphate (GMP) and inosine monophosphate (IMP). It can be described as a pleasant "brothy" or "meaty" taste with a long-lasting, mouthwatering and coating sensation over the tongue.

Last year, I stumbled on an article about MSG. It said that MSG was safe, contrary to urban legends that it was not safe or had bad effects. I looked it up and found it was generally safe, although some people might not react well (recent article, article). The FDA comments about people who claim to be sensitive and its natural occurrence in proteins: 

Is MSG safe to eat? FDA considers the addition of MSG to foods to be “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS). Although many people identify themselves as sensitive to MSG, in studies with such individuals given MSG or a placebo, scientists have not been able to consistently trigger reactions.  

What’s the difference between MSG and glutamate in food? The glutamate in MSG is chemically indistinguishable from glutamate present in food proteins. Our bodies ultimately metabolize both sources of glutamate in the same way. An average adult consumes approximately 13 grams of glutamate each day from the protein in food, while intake of added MSG is estimates at around 0.55 grams per day.

Curious, I bought some MSG and started using it like salt on meats, fish, raw tomatoes, soups, stews, etc. It was good but subtle. I wasn't sensitive to it, neither was my family. Now MSG is a standard seasoning in my cooking. 

Future cooking plans: Next on Germaine's food experimentation planning is guanylate and inosinate, although they are more expensive than MSG. I suspect that if MSG is good guanylate and inosinate will be better. 

Gotta like that name, Make it Industries LLC

By Germaine: The curious cooker (but not meth cooker)