umami

(noun)

one of the five basic tastes, the savory taste of foods such as seaweed, cured fish, aged cheeses and meats

Related Terms

Examples of umami in the following topics:

  • Tastes and Odors

    • The primary tastes detected by humans are sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami .
    • The identification of umami as a fundamental taste occurred fairly recently.
    • The taste of umami, also known as savoriness, is attributable to the taste of the amino acid L-glutamate.
    • The adaptive value of being able to distinguish umami is that savory substances tend to be high in protein.
    • These taste buds, located in papillae which are found across the tongue, are specific for the five modalities: salt, sweet, sour, bitter and umami.

  • Reception and Transduction

    • Sweet, bitter, and umami tastants require a G-protein-coupled receptor.