%0 Journal Article %D 2005 %I Begell House %N 1&2 %P 119-126 %R 10.1615/IntJMedMushr.v7.i12.120 %T The Umami Taste of Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms %U https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/708ae68d64b17c52,2cbf07a603004731,791333c0183c5693.html %V 7 %X Mushrooms impart to food the second functionality of tasty properties. The typical mushroom flavor consists of water-soluble taste components including free amino acids and 5'-nucleotides. The umami taste, also called the palatable taste, is an overall food flavor induced or enhanced by mono-sodium glutamate (MSG). The umami taste of mushrooms can be greatly increased by the synergistic effect of umami 5'-nucleotides and umami amino acids. The equivalent umami concentration (EUC) is the concentration of MSG equivalent to the umami intensity of that given by the mixture of MSG and the 5'-nucleotide. This article summarizes the results of mushroom taste components from a decade of research, and calculates the EUC values of the fruit bodies and mycelia. EUC values are grouped into four levels: >1000% (>10 g MSG/g dry matter), 100−1000% (1−10 g MSG/g), 10−100% (0.1−1 g MSG/g), and 10% (<0.1 g MSG/g). These EUC values are of great interest for fruit bodies and mycelia to be used as foods or food-flavoring materials or in the formulation of health foods. %8 2005-05-03