Umami (/uˈmɑːmi/, from Japanese: うま味) or savory taste is one of the five basic tastes (together

with sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness).[1][2] It has been described as savory and is
characteristic of broths and cooked meats.[3][4]
People taste umami through taste receptors that typically respond to glutamate, which is widely
present in meat broths and fermented products and commonly added to some foods in the form
of monosodium glutamate (MSG).[5] Since umami has its own receptors rather than arising out of a
combination of the traditionally recognized taste receptors, scientists now consider umami to be a
distinct taste.[2][6]
Many foods that may be consumed daily are naturally rich in umami components.[3] Glutamate in the
form of inosinate comes primarily from meats whereas guanylate comes primarily from vegetables.
Mushrooms, especially dried shiitake, are sources of umami flavor from guanylate. Smoked, or
fermented fish are high in inosinate, and shellfish in adenylate.[36]:11, 52, 110[37]
Generally, umami taste is common to foods that contain high levels of L-glutamate, IMP and GMP,
most notably in fish, shellfish, cured meats, meat extracts, mushrooms, vegetables(e.g.,
ripe tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, spinach, celery, etc.) or green tea, hydrolysed vegetable protein,
and fermented and aged products involving bacterial or yeast cultures, such as cheeses, shrimp
pastes, fish sauce, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, and yeast extracts such
as Vegemite and Marmite.[3][38]
Many humans' first encounter with umami components is breast milk.[39] It contains roughly the same
amount of umami as broths.
There are some distinctions among stocks from different countries. In dashi, L-glutamate comes
from sea kombu (Laminaria japonica) and inosinate from dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi) or dried
sardines (niboshi).