UMAMI: O QUINTO GOSTO E SUAS POSSIBILIDADES NA GASTRONOMIA

Abstract

The objective of this work was to analyze the possibility of using umami-rich foods, their preparationsin gastronomy throughout healthy foods, to improve the palatability in people affected by specifical pathologies and also of advanced age. The analysis was conducted through a bibliographical review, based on data collected from articles in the CAPES and Google Scholar databases, as well as works by Brillat-Savarin, among others. Gastronomy, a field of knowledge that has long sparked interest, is a place where people express their customs through their dietary practices. The perception of taste was one of the advances of primitive man, a taste related to the sense of taste and perceived in the oral cavity, where salivary molecules and cellular receptors on taste buds present tastes such as sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami, a taste that is part of the history of civilizations. Meat was easily accessible and widely consumed by primitive man due to its savory taste associated with the presence of amino acids; this taste would be umami, the fifth taste, found in various foods and identified by the scientist Kikunae Ikeda in 1908 but only widely accepted in the second half of the 20th century. Umami substances include glutamate, inosine monophosphate, and guanosine monophosphate, substances that enhance flavor and improve the palatability of preparations. Ancient civilizations appreciated the umami taste in fermented foods, such as garum, found in Roman cuisine. Umami taste produces a residual sensation that lasts from 5 to 10 minutes after food consumption, many of which are part of our daily lives. Gastronomy, through techniques, transforms them into surprising preparations. It is understood that bibliographical research is relevant, given the existing gap in studies connecting umami taste to gastronomy, to advance practical research, as it was possible to verify that gastronomy, through its preparations, can help improve palatability with healthy foods that exhibit the umami taste, a taste that enhances other tastes in preparations.