how does umami act in the brain?

Some foods are capable of awakening good and tasty memories, such as Sunday lunches with the family and other happy moments with loved ones. Known as gustatory memory, the feeling of nostalgia provoked has a scientific explanation.

Taste cells are responsible for identifying basic tastes and sending messages through nerve signals to the central nervous system. “The stimuli reach the brain and produce sensations such as pleasure, aversion or memories associated with certain tastes”, suggests the doctor in Food Science and consultant at the Umami committee, Helen Maluly.

One example of how food flavors interact with brain functions is related to glutamic acid, also known as glutamate. “Results of a neuroscientific experiment presented at the II Latin American Congress of Sensory and Consumer Sciences – SenseLatam, showed that glutamate, naturally present in various foods or as a food additive, provides the umami taste and, by activating the gustatory sensation , signals are sent to specific areas of the brain that are related to emotions”1, emphasizes the specialist.

Glutamate is an amino acid produced by the body and is also primarily responsible for the umami taste, the fifth basic taste of the human palate, and can be found in many of the foods that activate taste memory, including tomatoes, aged cheeses, asparagus, potatoes, shrimp, corn, mushrooms, meat and eggs.

Traditional family recipes are usually made with these ingredients, for example, pasta with tomato sauce and grated parmesan cheese on top, potato escondidinho with meat, stuffed mushrooms and paella. Therefore, when eating certain dishes, we associate tastes with affective memories.

In the study “The references and gustatory adaptations of human beings”2, Hellen points out that this affective memory with food awakens all the memories and stimuli received throughout life, and can directly affect the choices of what we like or not to eat.

In addition to being delicious, meals that have the fifth taste also help the gustatory memory. “Consuming foods rich in umami and making our diet more varied, with different tastes, aromas, colors and textures, are ways of training our memory to bring back good memories and also build new and tasty memories”, advises Hellen.

The doctor separated a list of foods rich in umami to help stimulate the taste memory.

SEA FOOD

Glutamate is found in some sea foods such as kombu and nori seaweed, tuna, shrimp, bonito fish and sardines.

FERMENTED FOODS AND DAIRY PRODUCTS

The fifth taste is more intense in matured cheeses, such as parmesan, provolone, gorgonzola, gouda, among others. In breast milk, glutamate is the most abundant amino acid, making umami the first taste we experience in life.

MEAT AND EGGS

Beef, pork, chicken and eggs are foods that have high quality amino acids and, in aged meats, umami is more noticeable.

MUSHROOMS

Umami is present in the mushroom family, such as shimeji and shitake, and is more abundant in dried versions of foods.

VEGETABLES AND VEGETABLES

Glutamic acid is found in various legumes and vegetables in different amounts, varying according to the maturation of foods with a tendency to increase over time. Some examples are tomatoes, peas, corn, potatoes, garlic, carrots, spinach, broccoli and asparagus.

UMAMI

It is the fifth basic taste of the human palate, discovered in 1908 by the Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda. It was scientifically recognized in the year 2000, when researchers from the University of Miami found the existence of specific receptors for this taste in the taste buds. The amino acid glutamic acid and the nucleotides inosinate and guanylate are the main umami substances. The two main characteristics of umami are the increase in salivation and the continuity of the taste for a few minutes after eating the food.

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