Other Food Chemicals

Green tea is rich in an amino acid called theanine and glutamate, both of which contribute to the savoriness of the tea. Because black tea is produced by a different method (green tea undergoes less oxidation), the amount of theanine is considerably lower. You can take advantage of this by steeping tea in hot water to extract the theanine, adding it to a vegetarian stock (see Percentage of Umami Substances in Common Ingredients). Several other molecules can elicit an umami response: aspartate from the amino acid aspartic acid; some organic acids, like the lactic acid in cheese; and several tiny peptides in cheese, garlic, and onions (see Proteins).