what is umami
Umami (/uËmÉËmi/), a savory taste, is one of the five basic tastes (together with sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness). A loanword from the Japanese (ãã¾å³) , umami can be translated as pleasant savory taste.This particular writing was chosen by Professor Kikunae Ikeda from umai (ãã¾ã) delicious and mi (å³) taste. The kanji æ¨å³ are used for a more general sense of a food as delicious.mami enhances the palatability of a wide variety of foods. Glutamate in acid form (glutamic acid) imparts little umami taste, whereas the salts of glutamic acid, known as glutamates, can easily ionize and give the characteristic umami taste. GMP and IMP amplify the taste intensity of glutamate.