Question

Umami taste is evoked by:

• A. Glucose
• B. Glutamic acid
• C. Quinine
• D. Sodium chloride

Hint:

Umami is the savoury taste linked to monosodium glutamate (MSG).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: There are five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Umami is the savoury or meaty taste and is the fifth, most recently characterized taste.

Step 2: Umami is triggered by glutamate. The taste sensors are glutamate receptors, and the prototypic stimulus is glutamic acid (and its salt monosodium glutamate, MSG). The naturally occurring umami substances are MSG, disodium guanosine monophosphate (GMP) and disodium inosine monophosphate (IMP).

Step 3: Matching the other options to their tastes shows why they are wrong. Glucose gives a sweet taste, quinine gives a bitter taste, and sodium chloride gives a salty taste. None of these produce umami.

Step 4: Therefore the substance that evokes umami is glutamic acid, option b.