Umami: The Fifth Taste

How often do you use the word “umami” to describe the flavor of your food? It’s likely that you’ve eaten something with umami—or craved a food with umami—in the last 24 hours, perhaps without using this exact word.

For a long time, food scientists believed our tongues were sensitive to four basic tastes: saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, and sourness. In the early 20th century, a Japanese chemist named Kikunae Ikeda discovered a fifth. After eating a seaweed soup, his scientific investigations uncovered a savoriness which he coined “umami.”

This Japanese name translates to “pleasant savory taste” and is associated with the meatiness that deepens flavor in foods including beef.  

Umami in its pure form is glutamic acid, and was first extracted from sea kelp by Dr. Ikeda.

The way that sweetness and saltiness are triggered by sugar and salt, umami is triggered by glutamates. These essential amino acids combine with carbohydrates during the Maillard reaction to give cooked meat its distinctive appearance, scent and flavor.

Beef is one of the most common glutamate-rich foods, containing over 1000 mg of glutamates per 100 g of meat. It’s packed with umami deliciousness! Parmesan cheese, sea kelp, mushrooms and tomatoes are other foods that contain high amounts of glutamates. 

We’re dedicated to creating the same beef people love eating in such high volumes today in a cleaner, kinder way—without sacrificing taste. That’s why our team of scientists also measure taste, for example in our fat tastings, on our journey to replace beef with beef.

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