The main umami substances are amino acids, peptides, nucleotides, organic acids and compound umami agents.

Amino Acids

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

The main amino acids of umami in food are glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine, glycine, phenylalanine and tyrosine and their sodium salts, which belong to sodium glutamate type umami substances, among which glutamic acid and aspartic acid are the two most important amino acids of umami taste.

Nucleotides

I+G

There are two typical umami nucleotides: 5' -inosine acid and 5' -guanylate. At present, only 5' -inosine disodium (IMP), 5' -guanylate disodium (GMP) and ribonucleotides dominated by GMP and IPM are used in production. The umami of 5' -nucleotide is stronger than that of MSG, especially the combination of 5' -inosine acid and 5' -guanylic acid with MSG has a significant synergistic effect, which can greatly improve the umami intensity of MSG. I+G, a mixture of 5'-IMP and 5'-GMP, is a strong umami agent.

Organic acids

The organic acids with umami flavor mainly include succinic acid, lactic acid and gallic acid.

The chemical name for succinic acid is l, 4-succinic acid. There is a small amount in bird and animal meat and fish, and the most in shellfish. Succinic acid alone as a sour agent, with a threshold of 0.039%, is used for flavoring wine, cool drinks, candy, etc. 

Disodium succinate is an organic acid umami agent, and its taste threshold is 0.03%. It is a strong umami agent in food products, which is widely used in traditional fermented products such as sake, soy sauce, sauce, such as salt, sodium glutamate or other organic acids acetic acid, citric acid, and its umami can be enhanced.

Compound umami agent

Compound umami agent, also known as flavor enhancer, refers to a class of compounds that can enhance the flavor of food. According to different sources, it can be divided into yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) and hydrolyzed animal protein (HAP).

Yeast extract is based on baker's yeast, brewer's yeast, yeast and other raw materials, through autolysis, concentration and enzymatic hydrolysis decomposition into nucleotides, amino acids and peptides and other flavor substances, through drying and other processing into powder to make umami agent, not only can play a role in flavor enhancement and freshness, but also has the effect of increasing the nutritional value of food. It can be used as a compound seasoning to add to broth, beef, etc., to greatly enhance the flavor of the product.

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)

The main components of HVP are amino acids and polypeptides, which can be absorbed by human body and play the role of increasing fresh flavor, improving flavor and covering odor. HVP has a very wide range of applications ‚ which can be used in a wide variety of food and food ingredients that need to enhance flavor. Compared to traditional MSG, the aftertaste is more full. HVP combined with MSG can play the color, aroma, taste and other nutrients in one, is a new type of food flavor enhancer developed vigorously in recent years.

HVP is rich in various amino acids and small peptides, with high nutritional value, and can be used as a functional food ingredient for people with poor digestive function or disease. The small peptides contained in it can promote the absorption of trace elements, improve the body's immunity, anti-tumor and other functions. HVP also has the effect of preventing food allergy. Food allergy patients can cause skin rash, serious can be life-threatening, the role of plant protein hydrolysate in the prevention and treatment of allergy is undoubtedly an important factor in the research and development of protein hydrolysate.

Hydrolyzed animal protein (HAP)

Hydrolyzed animal protein refers to the umami agent that hydrolyzes proteins into amino acids and peptides by enzymatic method using animal muscles such as pork, chicken and beef as raw materials.