UMAMI - THE 5TH TASTE
Umami literally means: “pleasant savory taste”: umai represents “delicious” and mi “taste.”
Umami is discovered in 1908 by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda. He had been studying a broth made from seaweed and dried fish flakes, called dashi. This is when he discovered the amino acid: glutamate, a key building block of proteins. Almost a century later researchers identified two other molecules that could enhance this sensation: inosinate (IMP) and guanylate (GMP).
It is only since 2002 that literature has proven the existence of the umami receptor in the taste buds on our tongue. Each taste bud has specific receptors for the basic tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami. These taste buds exist everywhere on our tongue.
THE ALL NATURAL TASTE ENHANCER
Our range of products are made from the stems of the white button mushroom. These remain on the cultivation bed after harvesting so we simply cook and press the stems to create the tastiest mushroom concentrates.
They are 100% natural. Delivering an intense, umami rich taste which alters the perception of other tastes:
sodium seems salter, sugar seems sweeter, sour and bitter less acerbic and biting!
SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN
Mushrooms give another dimension to the functionality of taste properties. Mushrooms taste profile consists of water-soluble components, like the amino acid, glutamate and the RNA 5′-nucleotides: inosinate and guanylate. These are the main umami building blocks.
It's scientifically proven that umami is sensed in far greater strength when these building blocks are combined with inosinate or guanylate. This is referred to as umami synergy. Many studies show that the synergy factor for white mushrooms is around 7-8 times.
WHY UMAMI PRODUCED FROM MUSHROOM TASTE SO GOOD!
White button mushroom naturally contain high levels of glutamate. But it's the special synergetic effect of inosinate and guanylate
(that occurs in button mushrooms) that really boosts the natural umami flavour.
The unique combination of glutamate and the ribonucleotides create a 8 times higher umami syngery!
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