As we get older our ability to taste food diminishes. Heston Blumenthal has said that, "losing your sense of taste means losing your sense of pleasure" - meaning if food doesn't taste good, we have no desire to eat it. This can lead to under-nutrition in older people. As a result, Age UK has launched a programme to enhance the taste of food to make it more appealing. Dr Lisa Methven from the University of Reading, who leads the project, believes that enhancing the taste of meals will help to tackle the problem of malnutrition in elderly patients.
She explains that as our sense of taste deteriorates, "it is not possible to gain extra taste buds", so this project looks at how to enhance food so that older people can still taste it. Salt (sodium chloride) is a popular way of enhancing flavour and taste. However, the sodium content of foods should not be increased as this can cause other health issues, such as hypertension. However, it is possible to increase the umami taste in food, by using foods that are naturally high in glutamate and ribonucleotides.
The idea behind the project is to create dishes that can be cooked in a hospital kitchen. The first experiment in the programme involves enhancing the flavour of minced meat. Dr Methven explains that they will start with a basic formulation, then glutamate extracted from seaweed will be added to the minced meat together with taste components taken from shiitake mushrooms (ribonucleotides). The food will look exactly the same, but there will be extra umami taste to make it more appealing.
The improved meals will be tested at the Royal Berkshire Hospital and introduced nationwide if they prove to be a success.
As part of their Year of Food programme, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has announced that the secret of perfect
gravy is added glutamate, from soy sauce. Recent research on the umami taste receptor has shown that ribonucleotides in
the meat work synergistically with the glutamate to enhance umami taste perception.
To read more about the RSC's gravy recipe:
prospect.rsc.org
Scientists have confirmed the role of a specific taste receptor for umami taste, a finding that will allow us to strengthen our understanding of taste preferences. The findings published by the Monell Center scientists also indicate that differences in genes account for the individual variations in sensitivity to the intensity of umami taste.
The results of this study will help to increase our understanding in human taste variation and will aid in the discovery of other taste receptors that could play a role in umami taste.
Scientists have discovered that one of the most common amino acids, glutamic acid, present in vegetable protein can help to lower blood pressure. Vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage are particularly high in glutamic acid, which is key in creating the umami (savoury) taste in foods.
Since the first description of 'Chinese Restaurant Syndrome' in a letter published in 1968, a small number of studies of variable quality have attributed a variety of symptoms to the consumption of monosodium glutamate. This review shows that the studies, undertaken over the intervening period of 40 years, have failed to demonstrate a link between consuming foods seasoned with monosodium glutamate and the development of allergies, allergic-type symptoms or asthma.
May 2009: A documentary created to celebrate the centenary of the discovery of the link between glutamate and the umami taste has been awarded a Grand Award (Education Section) at the World Media Festival in Hamburg.
The film documents Professor Ikeda's discovery that the umami taste in his soup stock was triggered by the glutamate in the Kombu kelp used to make the stock. Professor Ikeda was successful in isolating the glutamic acid from the Kombu, and in 1908 he obtained a patent for the production of monosodium glutamate for use as seasoning. The following year Professor Ikeda went on to commercialize his discovery in the form of the AJI-NO-MOTOŽ seasoning.
The World Media Festival is a global competition for modern audiovisual media, which exists to recognize excellence within the industry. The festival was founded in 2000 and has risen quickly to become one of the premier events for communications media.
It has long been known that umami taste is dramatically increased if food contains both glutamate and nucleotides - dashi, for example contains glutamate from the kombu and nucleotides from the bonito flakes. Now scientists working on the 'umami' taste receptor have discovered the unique mechanism for synergy between glutamate and IMP (5' ribonucleotides) in activating the umami taste receptor.