Mechanisms of umami taste perception: From molecular level to brain imaging

Wu, Ben; Eldeghaidy, Sally; Ayed, Charfedinne; Fisk, Ian D.; Hewson, Louise; Liu, Yuan

Abstract

Due to unique characteristics, umami substances have gained much attention in the food industry during the past decade as potential replacers to sodium or fat to increase food palatability. Umami is not only known to increase appetite, but also to increase satiety, and hence could be used to control food intake. Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanism(s) involved in umami taste perception. This review discusses current knowledge of the mechanism(s) of umami perception from receptor level to human brain imaging. New findings regarding the molecular mechanisms for detecting umami tastes and their pathway(s), and the peripheral and central coding to umami taste are reviewed. The representation of umami in the human brain and the individual variation in detecting umami taste and associations with genotype are discussed. The presence of umami taste receptors in the gastrointestinal tract, and the interactions between the brain and gut are highlighted. The review concludes that more research is required into umami taste perception to include not only oral umami taste perception, but also the wider “whole body” signaling mechanisms, to explore the interaction between the brain and gut in response to umami perception and ingestion.

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Acceptance Date: Mar 24, 2021
• Online Publication Date: May 17, 2021
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Apr 14, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: May 18, 2022
• Journal: Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
• Print ISSN: 1040-8398
• Electronic ISSN: 1549-7852
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 62
• Issue: 25
• Pages: 7015-7024
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2021.1909532
• Keywords: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering; General Medicine; Food Science
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5435541
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2021.1909532