MSG/glutamate/umami

[Guest guest]

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--- In ,

<karenr@c...> > >Of course if you are looking at mind-benders, there

is

> >good ol' MSG. Maybe not the synthetic kind, but it comes in

> >seaweed and mushrooms (?) I think, and Tamari and is a known

> >appetite stimulant. Large amounts definitely bother some people

> >but it's been used a lot by the Japanese.

>

> Interesting.. I thought MSG was a taste bud stimulant, or actually

taste

> bud confuser :-), but I never heard of it as an appetite stimulant,

except

> in cases when there's a connection between those two. For me, my

appetite

> doesn't depend on things being exceptionally tasty-- plain chicken

soup is

> heavenly to me!

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my understanding is that the synthetic and natural forms of MSG are

slightly different (isomers?), and that the natural form occurs in a

lot of foods and not only is not a problem, but is a trigger for

umami, one of the five basic taste sensations for our species (along

with sweet, sour, salty, and bitter). taste receptors on the tongue

have been identified for it, so it's obviously a very important part

of our physiology, apparently functioning as part of an " amino acid

detector " , which certainly could be evolutionarily useful. and as

chris pointed out, glutamate is one of the brain's main

neurotransmitters. i'm not an expert on this stuff, but i learned

about umami from a brain physiology course, so you could check any

modern physiology textbook for more info.

here's a site with bibliographical info:

http://www.srut.org/index2_e.asp.

here's an interesting commercial outfit using umami to sell fermented

fish products: www.certifiedsavory.com.

here's a quickie on the receptor research:

http://www.nature.com/neuro/press_release/nn0200.html

i always use sea veggies in my soups for the umami flavor (and the

trace minerals of course...)

mike parker