What's in a Name? Are MSG and Umami the Same?
Open Access
- 1 November 2002
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Chemical Senses
- Vol. 27 (9) , 845-846
Abstract
The Japanese word `umami' has a long past. It was already in use during the Edo period (Tokugawa Shogunate) of Japanese history, which ended in 1868 (Mason, 1993). In Japanese, `umami' often connotes a cognitive category (Yamaguchi and Ninomiya, 1998) of taste, or perhaps flavor, with definitions that include deliciousness, flavor, relish, gusto and zest (Inoue, 1983). In effect, the Japanese word `umami' can denote a really good taste of something—a taste or flavor that is an especially appropriate exemplar of the flavor of that thing (Backhouse, 1978).Keywords
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