Tag Archives: MSG

Relationship between Umami and Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), sources, and discovery

Posted by Muayyad Karadsheh in Food science and tagged with , , , , ,
Living well in the 21st century - Limassol, Cyprus - tongue with a description of different taste locations - bitter, sour, umami, salty, and sweet. The umami taste is found in the middle of the tongue (white color), bitter (back of the tongue - blue color), sour (side of the tongues - green color), salty (yellow color - top of the tongue), and sweet (the tip of the tongue - pink color).

Image by dreamstime

Discovery of Umami and MSG

The use of Umami and MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) are closely related topics that have been discussed and researched extensively since the 1980. It was all started by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikedas after he investigated the tastes of his wife’s rich kelp broth. Ever since, many discoveries such as receptor locations on the tongue have led to the understanding of this elusive flavor. When we eat, there are several factors that contribute to the flavor of food. One of these factors are the taste buds – small sensory organs on the tongue. The taste buds are composed of several taste cells that react to taste stimuli. They are situated on microvilli of taste buds in papillae. As you can see in the picture above, umami taste is located in the middle of the tongue.

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