So many flavors. How many types of flavors are there?

Do you know the FIFTH and SIXTH tastes distinguished by humans? September 8th, 2016

The sense of taste did not arise by chance during evolution. The unpleasant bitter taste of poisons or the sour taste of spoiled food protected people from poisoning. With the help of sweet taste receptors, our ancestors determined the sweetest, and therefore the most energy-rich fruits. Salt in small quantities is necessary for our life. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was believed that a person’s sense of taste was limited to four tastes - sour, bitter, salty and sweet. But there are already SIX flavors!

I myself didn’t even know the FIFTH taste. It's called umami. But you all know its other name.

Let's talk more about this...

Just a few years ago, research confirmed that our mouths contain taste buds for this one is relatively new spicy taste(the other four "basic flavors" had been common for several thousand years), and many recipes in our history suddenly made sense. Umami was the reason the Romans loved garum, fermented fish sauce, which they used the way we use ketchup today. It is a key element in bone- and soul-warming gravy, meat juices and caramelized meats. This is the reason why bain marie is spreading in popularity.

Glutamic acid (left) and monosodium glutamate (right) are the same substances that tell our taste buds about the presence of protein in food

In 1907, in Japan, chemist Kikune Ikeda became interested in the taste of an ingredient in many traditional Japanese dishes- kombu seaweed. From 40 kg of algae, he isolated 30 g of glutamic acid, which, as it turned out, was responsible for the characteristic taste. Ikeda came to the conclusion that it represents an independent, fifth taste, which was called “umami” (Japanese for “appetizing taste”). Over the course of a hundred years, this term has entered the lexicon food industry throughout the world, but only in the 21st century was the presence of taste receptors specific to glutamic acid on the tongue finally established, and Ikeda’s conclusions were confirmed at the highest scientific level.

Realizing the significance of his discovery, in 1908 Ikeda received a patent for a method for producing this amino acid from gluten. A year later, his company Ajinomoto (“Essence of Taste”) launched a new seasoning on the market - sodium salt of glutamic acid, or monosodium glutamate. Currently, this substance is one of the most massively produced products in the food industry.

Taste of protein

In fact, we have long been forming our taste preferences based on the glutamic acid content of foods. Even our distant ancestors, wandering across the expanses of the African continent, noticed that slightly “sitting” meat tastes better than fresh. Today we understand why - during the “ripening” of meat, some of the proteins undergo fermentation, which leads to an increase in the content of free glutamic acid. The selection of many cultivated plants took place in the direction of selecting the most delicious, and therefore rich in this substance, varieties.

Foods rich in glutamic acid have been used since ancient times to improve the taste of food, be it seaweed or tomatoes. Cooks have invented cooking methods that increase the content of free glutamate in ready dish, and have even learned to “correct” the composition of products by subjecting them to special processing and turning, for example, relatively neutral-tasting milk or soy protein into glutamate-rich cheese and soy sauce.

Why is this taste so pleasant to us? It's very simple: umami is the taste of protein. Considering all the possible diversity of natural proteins, it is impossible to create a universal receptor for their determination in food (unlike receptors for sweet or salty taste). Nature found a more elegant solution - she provided us with taste buds that are specific not to proteins, but to their structural elements - amino acids. If the food contains protein, then there is also a certain amount of free amino acids. The most common amino acid in nature, glutamine (any protein contains from 10 to 40%), has become a kind of “marker” indicating to us high content essential protein in food (by the way, some other amino acids also have an umami taste).

Not stronger, but better

Consumers' misunderstanding of the effects of monosodium glutamate is due to inaccurate definition. In law and in everyday life it is called a “flavor enhancer.” In fact, glutamate is not an “enhancer”, but a carrier of one of the basic tastes, just like salt, sugar or citric acid. The only taste that can be enhanced by glutamate is umami. IN English By the way, its functions are described more precisely - taste enhancer, that is, “taste improver”, and not “amplifier”.

Monosodium glutamate is not appropriate in any dish. Nobody adds it to candies, chocolate, yoghurts or soft drinks- there is no point in introducing new taste where it is simply not needed. Glutamate is responsible for the perception of taste by many familiar dishes, be it homemade cutlets, a hamburger in a roadside cafe or Peking duck in expensive restaurant. It is not added there on purpose - it is formed from protein during the cooking process of food.

Natural and synthetic

The most popular myth about it is associated with the origin of glutamate. “Natural glutamic acid and its salts are not the same as synthetic glutamate,” say supporters of this myth. Sometimes an argument is added about the existence of isomers of molecules that differ in the spatial configuration of atoms or groups of atoms (for example, they are chiral, that is, mirror images of each other).

Indeed, glutamine amino acid, like all other amino acids, can exist in the form of two isomers. One of them (L-, from Latin laevus, left) is found in nature, is necessary for our life and takes part in biochemical reactions in our body. The second (D-, from Latin dexter, right) isomer does not occur in nature and is useless from the point of view of our biochemistry. Our taste buds are specific to the L-isomer, which is responsible for the “umami” taste, and the D-isomer does not irritate these receptors. This is well known to food and dietary supplement manufacturers, so there is no point in adding the “wrong” isomer to food.

The first method of industrial production of glutamate was the hydrolysis of natural plant protein (gluten), the natural content of glutamic acid in which can exceed 25%. This process replicated the traditional one on an industrial scale. cooking products. Later, other methods were developed, including chemical synthesis from acrylonitrile (this process did not become widespread). And since the late 1960s, glutamate has been produced using the bacteria Corynebacterium glutamicum, which is capable of converting carbohydrates into glutamic acid (a natural L-isomer) with a yield of up to 60%.

According to modern food legislation, a substance obtained from natural raw materials (carbohydrates) using biotechnological methods (fermentation) is considered natural. So, from the point of view of both the law and common sense, all glutamate E621 currently used in the food industry is not synthetic, but completely natural. Although in fact this is not important, since the origin of the substance does not affect its properties in any way.

THE SIXTH TASTE

Scientists from the University of Oregon have described a new category of taste distinguished by humans: “starchy.” This taste is independent of the five basic ones recognized by scientists - sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami - and is described by volunteers in the study as "ricey" or "floury." It can be found in products containing starch and other polysaccharides. The carriers of taste are the products of partial breakdown of polysaccharides.

Scientists asked 22 volunteers to try solutions of oligosaccharides - molecules in which several sugar fragments are connected in a chain. The experiment used chains of 7 and 14 glucose molecules, as well as a glucose polymer. In order to make the perception of taste independent of sweet receptors, acarbose was added to the solutions, which prevented the cleavage of glucose from molecules under the action of salivary enzymes. In addition, the researchers gave the subjects lactisol, a substance that blocks sweet receptors. Even after these actions, the volunteers successfully distinguished the tastes of oligomer solutions from water. The taste of the glucose polymer could not be reliably distinguished from water.

According to the subjects, the taste of the oligomer solutions was similar to rice, bread, cereals or crackers. The authors note that the mechanism of reception should be different from the perception of sweets, but which receptors are involved in this process is unknown.

sources

Story

In Western culture, the concept of "basic tastes" dates back at least to the time of Aristotle.

In adults, mixed saliva found in oral cavity, has a pH = 6.8...7.4, so the tongue can sense more or less acidic zones in the mouth. If the product has a pH<7, мы ощущаем кислый вкус. При рН>7 we feel the so-called. "soapy" taste. A convenient standard of acidity is solutions of acetic acid (for comparison, the acidity of gastric juice is normally pH ~ 1).

Sweet

Sweetness is usually associated with the presence of sugars, but the same sensation occurs from glycerin, certain proteins, and amino acids (aspartame). One of the chemical carriers of “sweet” are hydroxo groups in large organic molecules - sugars, as well as polyols - sorbitol, xylitol. Sweet detectors are G-proteins located in taste buds. A system of “second messengers” is used, specifically cAMP, associated with H± channels, that is, the reception of “sour taste”.

Gorkoe

Bitterness, like sweetness, is perceived through G proteins. Historically, bitter taste has been associated with an unpleasant sensation, and perhaps with the danger of some plant products for health. Indeed, most plant alkaloids are both toxic and bitter, and evolutionary biology has a basis for this conclusion.

The synthetic bittering agent denatonium (known under the brand name Bitrex) is synthesized in. Its derivative (Denatonium benzoate) is used as a "deterrent" to prevent accidental internal use toxic substances, for example by children or animals.

Tart

This taste is associated with the reception of tannins (tannins in tea, sloe berries, etc.). The mechanism of its occurrence is associated with the binding of tannins and proteins rich in proline. With insufficiently developed terminology in certain social or linguistic groups, this taste is not distinguished and is assessed as a variant of bitter.

Notes

Links

1. “Taste bud” for fatty foods found (English). BBC News (2 November 2005). Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2010.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what “Basic tastes” are in other dictionaries:

This term has other meanings, see Taste (meanings). Taste in physiology is one of the types of chemoreception; a sensation that occurs when various substances act primarily on taste receptors (located on the taste buds ... ... Wikipedia

Taste in physiology is one of the types of chemoreception; a sensation that occurs when various substances act primarily on taste receptors (located on the taste buds of the tongue, as well as the back wall of the pharynx, soft palate, tonsils, ... ... Wikipedia

- (Japanese 旨味?) the taste of protein substances, the “fifth taste”, traditionally used in Japanese culture and in other eastern countries. Monosodium glutamate and other amino acids create the umami sensation. This food additives groups E600 E699. Due to the fact that... ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Sour. Village Kisloye Country RussiaRussia ... Wikipedia

It is believed that a person distinguishes either four or five elementary tastes: salty, sour, sweet, bitter and one more, for which there is no Russian name. It is called "umami" and is attributed to the taste of MSG. However, sometimes it is called “sweet,” and food manufacturers believe that monosodium glutamate simply enhances the sensation of other tastes. If you believe books about food, then it turns out that there are not five tastes, but many thousands, but culinary specialists do not mean elementary tastes, but combined ones. Recently, scientists have suspected that there are more than five of them.

It turned out that the taste buds of rats react differently to different bitter substances. The bitter pathogen causes an increase in calcium concentration in the receptor cell, which prompts the cell to secrete a transmitter (a chemical transmitter of impulses between nerve cells). To study this process, biologists A. Caicedo and S. Roper from the University of Miami (USA) introduced a fluorescent label into the taste cells of rat tongues that responds to an increase in calcium levels. They then exposed the cells to various bitter compounds. It turned out that 66 percent of bitter-sensitive cells responded to only one compound, 27 percent to two, and 7 percent to more than two compounds.

This means that the taste buds that respond to different bitter substances are different, but we only have one name for “bitter.” Or it is possible that rats are simply better at understanding the bitter side of life than humans.

What does taste consist of?

Different substances can have a pure or mixed taste. The taste of all purely bitter substances is perceived by humans in exactly the same way. Thus, solutions of opium, strychnine, morphine, quinine may differ from one another in the intensity of the feeling of bitterness they cause, but not in its quality. If we equalize the intensity of the sensation by taking the listed solutions in different concentrations, then they become indistinguishable. The same applies to sour tastes. Solutions of hydrochloric, nitric, sulfuric, phosphoric, formic, oxalic, tartaric, citric and malic acids, taken in appropriate dilutions, taste indistinguishable. In the study of sweet substances, it was also found that there are not several types of sweets. Certain substances may have a more or less pronounced sweet taste, but if this taste is purely sweet, then their solutions cannot be distinguished from one another. Glucose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose have a purely sweet taste. Regarding the salty taste, it has been proven that only one substance possesses it in a purely expressed form - table salt. All other salty substances have a bitter or sour taste.

How do flavors mix? Sour and sweet substances can cause the sweet and sour sensation found in many varieties of apples or fruit drinks. Example of sour-salty sensation - taste cucumber pickle. Bitter and sweet merge with difficulty, but bitter cocoa when mixed with sugar, it causes a kind of unified sensation characteristic of chocolate. But the fusion of bitter with salty and especially bitter with sour does not occur at all. Mixtures of bitter and salty, bitter and sour substances are extremely unpleasant to the taste.

Story

In Western culture, the concept of "basic tastes" dates back at least to the time of Aristotle.

In adults, mixed saliva in the oral cavity has a pH of 6.8...7.4, so the tongue can sense more or less acidic areas in the mouth. If the product has a pH<7, мы ощущаем кислый вкус. При рН>7 we feel the so-called. "soapy" taste. A convenient standard of acidity is solutions of acetic acid (for comparison, the acidity of gastric juice is normally pH ~ 1).

Sweet

Sweetness is usually associated with the presence of sugars, but the same sensation occurs from glycerin, certain proteins, and amino acids (aspartame). One of the chemical carriers of “sweet” are hydroxo groups in large organic molecules - sugars, as well as polyols - sorbitol, xylitol. Sweet detectors are G-proteins located in taste buds. A system of “second messengers” is used, specifically cAMP, associated with H± channels, that is, the reception of “sour taste”.

Gorkoe

Bitterness, like sweetness, is perceived through G proteins. Historically, bitter tastes have been associated with unpleasant sensations and possibly health hazards in some plant foods. Indeed, most plant alkaloids are both toxic and bitter, and evolutionary biology has a basis for this conclusion.

The synthetic bittering agent denatonium (known under the brand name Bitrex) is synthesized in. Its derivative (Denatonium benzoate) is used as a "deterrent" to prevent accidental ingestion of toxic substances, for example by children or animals.

Tart

This taste is associated with the reception of tannins (tannins in tea, sloe berries, etc.). The mechanism of its occurrence is associated with the binding of tannins and proteins rich in proline. With insufficiently developed terminology in certain social or linguistic groups, this taste is not distinguished and is assessed as a variant of bitter.

Notes

Links

1. “Taste bud” for fatty foods found (English). BBC News (2 November 2005). Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2010.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

• Bureau of Economic Analysis (USA)
• Ivkon

See what “Basic tastes” are in other dictionaries:

Taste- This term has other meanings, see Taste (meanings). Taste in physiology is one of the types of chemoreception; a sensation that occurs when various substances act primarily on taste receptors (located on the taste buds ... ... Wikipedia

Sour taste

Parageusia- Taste in physiology is one of the types of chemoreception; a sensation that occurs when various substances act primarily on taste receptors (located on the taste buds of the tongue, as well as the back wall of the pharynx, soft palate, tonsils, ... ... Wikipedia

Umami- (Japanese 旨味?) the taste of protein substances, the “fifth taste”, traditionally used in Japanese culture and in other eastern countries. Monosodium glutamate and other amino acids create the umami sensation. These are food additives of the E600 E699 group. Due to the fact that... ... Wikipedia

Kisloe (Smolensk region)- This term has other meanings, see Sour. Village Kisloye Country RussiaRussia ... Wikipedia