The Fifth Basic Taste
What is "the fifth basic taste"?
The flavour of food is determined by a number of different factors including taste, smell, colour, temperature and overall appearance, as well as by physiological or psychological conditions. The most important factors are the basic taste of sweet, sour, salty and bitter.
In the 1980s, researchers of taste physiology, oral physiology, nutritional science and sitology focused on advancing research into the gustatory sense, wherein Umami was scientifically proven to be one of the basic tastes. Beginning with the International Symposium on Umami Taste held in 1985, umami was recognised globally as the fifth taste which is an independent basic taste different from the other four basic taste.