Enter umami, the savory taste found in tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce and other foods.
Dr Sasano supplemented the diets of his volunteers with kombucha, an umami-rich infusion of kelp.
If you've never been sure of how umami expresses itself on your tongue, roll this one around in your mouth and taste the savoury, slightly astringent texture that umami offers Chardonnay.
Additionally, they can only sense bitter flavors, instead of the sour, sweet, salty and umami scope our tongue can detect.
Results of sensory test showed that IMP played a major role in umami taste and different IMP contents resulted in different umami test owing to interaction between IMP and glutamine sodium.
The crispy seared surface gave way to a buttery texture that melted in my mouth and sent a wave of dopamine-inducing umami across my palate.
Other airlines say they try to tailor food and wine for parched palates, but most haven't gone down the umami road.
Ole Mouritsen of the University of Southern Denmark, author of yet another paper in this week's Flavour, says that umami and kokumi may simply be two sides of the same biomolecular coin.
