Umami—The Fith Dimension of Taste

Umami may sound mystical, but it really isn’t. You have craved this fifth taste since the day you were born. It is only recently that the majority of scientists have come to an agreement that the tongue not only perceives sweet, salty, sour, and bitter but also a fifth taste sensation called umami, roughly translated as deliciousness, savory, or meaty. We have an innate affinity for sweetness and umami¹. Of the twenty amino acids in breast milk, glutamic acid is the most abundant. Glutamate receptors on your palate sense the free glutamate in foods as a delicious taste.