Review

Umami Characteristics and Taste Improvement Mechanism of Meat

Md. Jakir Hossain1,, AMM Nurul Alam1,, Eun-Yeong Lee1, Young-Hwa Hwang2, Seon-Tea Joo1,2,*
Author Information & Copyright
1Division of Applied Life Science (BK 21 Four), Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Korea.
2Institute of Agriculture & Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Korea.

† These authors contributed equally to this work.

*Corresponding Author: Seon-Tea Joo. E-mail: stjoo@gnu.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2024 Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Feb 15, 2024 ; Revised: Mar 21, 2024 ; Accepted: Mar 21, 2024

Published Online: Mar 25, 2024

Abstract

Taste is one of the five senses that detect vital information about what we are eating. Comprehending taste is crucial for enhancing the flavor of foodstuffs and high-protein foods like meat. Umami has global recognition as the fifth elementary taste, alongside sweetness, sourness, saltiness, and bitterness. Umami compounds are known to enhance the sensation of recognized flavors such as salty, sweet, bitter, and others. This could end up in greater food consumption by consumption by consumers. With the rising global population, meat consumption is rising and is projected to double by 2025. It is crucial to comprehend the umami mechanism of meat and meat products, identify novel compounds, and employ laboratory methodologies to gather varied information. This knowledge will aid in the development of new consumer products. Although very limited information is available on umami taste and compounds in meat through research data. This article discusses recent advancements in umami compounds in other foodstuff as well as meat to aid in designing future research and meat product development.  Moreover, another objective of this review is to learn present techniques in foodstuffs to enhance umami taste and utilize that knowledge in meat products.

Keywords: Taste; Umami taste; Meat; Umami mechanism; Umami compounds