Umami

In 1908, Prof. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University discovered a taste in kombu dashi not accounted for by any combination of the basic tastes of sweet, salty, bitter and sour. He identified the source of this taste as glutamate. The taste itself he dubbed, ‘umami’, generally translated as ‘savouriness’.

In 1913 and 1957 there followed the discovery of inosinate and guanylate respectively as sources of umami. Since the 1980s, further research has led to a wide international acceptance of umami as the fifth taste. The ingredients of dashi are all rich in the substances that are the source of umami. Kombu has the highest natural levels of glutamate of any foodstuff in the world. Katsuobushi and niboshi contain high levels of inosinate, and dried shiitake mushrooms of guanylate.