The story of umami, the mysterious fifth taste discovered in Japan

The professor of chemistry at the then Tokyo Imperial University discovered that kombu was the secret sauce that made all the difference to the taste. After days of work, in 1908 Ikeda managed to extract 30 gm of glutamic acid crystals out of nearly 12 kilos of dried sea kelp.

In his report on the discovery, published in the Journal of Chemical Society of Tokyo in 1909, later translated into English in 2002, Ikeda noted, “In the past, it was said that there are five taste qualities: sour, sweet, salty, bitter and hot. A hot sensation is just a skin mechanical sensation, therefore today’s scientists do not regard this sensation as a taste...However, I believe that there is at least one other additional taste which is quite distinct from the four tastes. It is the peculiar taste which we feel as ‘Umai’ (meaning brothy, meaty or savoury), arising from fish, meat and so forth...I propose to call this taste ‘Umami’ for convenience.”  

Thus, took birth this fifth taste of umami, that remained mysteriously unknown and unheard of till then. Ikeda christened the monosodium glutamate (MSG in short) that he observed was the chemical composition for any umami flavour, as Ajinomoto (which means ‘essence of taste’).  The same glutamate is also found in cheese, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, soy sauce and human breast milk, besides other sources. Together with businessman Saburosuke Suzuki II, Ikeda worked on commercialising the extraction of the MSG seasoning which could impart and highlight umami in dishes. The inquisitive chemist and the business person soon founded Ajinomoto Co. Inc., as a company. And, Aji-No-Moto, the trade name for the company’s umami seasoning extracted out of molasses and tapioca starch, became an essential component of every dining table in Japan. Scientists, after many decades after Ikeda’s discovery of umami, were able to prove that there are receptors in taste buds that can sense umami. The fifth taste ever since inspired some of the greatest chefs around the world to curate their menus highlighting it. 

Over a century later, the company has spread its presence with the MSG seasoning and other products to 35 countries with about 35,000 workforce. But, the 111-year history wasn’t a breeze for the company, for the many controversies MSG has had to battle. There was the ‘Chinese restaurant syndrome’, wherein people claimed that eating Chinese food caused them weakness and palpitations, leading to fears of ‘side-effects’ from MSG consumption, bringing the seasoning an unsavoury reputation. Studies conducted by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in 1988, Scientific Committee for Food of the European Commission in 1991, and later by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and the Federal Drug Administration (FDA)“did not find any scientifically verifiable evidence” between these palpitations and the consumption of MSG. They noted the acceptable daily intake as ‘not specified’, deeming it safe for human consumption.  

“The misconceptions and myths around MSG continue to remain in people’s minds in India, where we entered the market in 2003 (with a factory in Mamallapuram),” sighed the company’s India arm’s marketing manager Govinda Biswas, as he took a group of visiting Indian journalists around Ajinomoto’s factory at Ayutthaya, about 80km north of Thai capital Bangkok. Located in a province where there is an abundance of cassava cultivation, the factory manufactures and ships its taste enhancer to other countries, including India. “Many view MSG as harmful without knowledge, while all it is, is a product of fermentation of tapioca starch — a process similar to the way our sugar is made from sugarcane,” he asserted, pointing to huge loads of fine tapioca starch stored at the factory’s warehouses. 

This tapioca starch was then dissolved into water, added with enzymes which can digest the starch and turn it into glucose, which was in turn fermented in massive chambers, resulting in the growth of glutamic acids. These glutamic acids were next isolated, filtered for impurities and crystallised, and sieved again before being packed as MSG crystals. After multiple levels of sorting, boxing and quality checks, these seasoning packs were ready for their journey across borders, informed C Pornthip, the packing facility manager, who oversees 200 metric tonnes of MSG being packed a day. 

After a tour across the factory’s raw material storage and the packing spaces, a lunch at a local restaurant in the province demonstrated why these umami crystals are so commonly used in households of Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and China, which are also the biggest markets for the company. Thai staple, som tam salad (green papaya salad), could be seen being pounded and tossed as traditionally (with a mortar and pestle), with a sprinkle of the taste enhancer to pack in the umami hit, along with raw papaya’s freshness. Noodle broths and soups also used it. 

One may wonder, why not use extra tomatoes (which contain naturally occurring glutamates) in the salad or soup, over MSG? Govinda elaborated, “Scientifically, no regulatory body or study has prescribed a limit on the amount of MSG that we can consume in a day, or has proved that it is bad for us. It is because our body doesn’t differentiate between the naturally occurring and an additive form of glutamic acid. A tomato has only negligible amount of the natural glutamates, whereas using MSG in an extracted form enhances the taste through more umami.” The US FDA says, “The glutamate in MSG is chemically indistinguishable from glutamate present in food proteins. Our bodies ultimately metabolise both sources of glutamate in the same way.” 

The case of a ban on Maggi noodles in 2015 by India’s food watchdog over alleged mislabelling (that the product said ‘No added MSG’ on its packing, and a test showed the presence of it) only furthered the misconceptions around MSG. While the Swiss noodle maker Nestle maintained that it “did not add MSG as an ingredient at any stage of manufacturing”, it said its presence could be due to onion powder (which naturally contains glutamate). After many rounds of tests by food safety regulators around the world, including the US FDA, Britain’s Food Standards Authority (FSA), and also India, declaring it safe, the noodles made a comeback in the country. MSG, however, continues to battle allegations that it can lead to side-effects, none of which were proved by the scientific studies. This is also coupled with the current trend of ‘clean eating’, eliminating additives in food. The seasoning maker hopes diners inform themselves about MSG before terming it ‘harmful’.

Contrary to perceptions that this umami seasoning can go only into Chinese-style dishes, it can also be used in rasam, biryanis and curries, pointed out Govinda. “From our consumer surveys, we found many homes in Tamil Nadu using it in their rasam, mutton or chicken curries and biryanis to enhance the flavour,” he added. Currently TN, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and North East India is where this MSG seasoning is majorly used.