Professor Ikeda was one of many scientists at the turn of the century working on the biochemical mechanics which inform our perception of the world. By 1901 they had drawn a map of the tongue, showing, crudely, the whereabouts of the different nerve endings that identify the four accepted primary tastes, sweet, sour, bitter and salty.
But Ikeda thought this matrix missed something. 'There is,' he said, 'a taste which is common to asparagus, tomatoes, cheese and meat but which is not one of the four well-known tastes.' He decided to call the fifth taste 'umami' - a common Japanese word that is usually translated as 'savoury' - or, with more magic, as 'deliciousness'. By isolating umami, Ikeda - who had picked up some liberal notions while studying in Germany - hoped he might be able to improve the standard of living of Japan's rural poor. And so he and his researchers began their quest to isolate deliciousness.
What he found led the reviled food additive, monosodium glutamate (MSG). As a chemist, I've often wondered whether some MSG production methods might somehow introduce a small amount of the D-glutamic acid isomer. Anyone know whether this has been explored?
All the proteins in our bodies are made up of amino acids which can come in two structural forms, D and L. Why all living creatures on Earth have exclusively L-form amino acids is a great mystery of science. (Glycine--being neither D nor L--is the lone exception.) The difference between D and L is non-trivial biologically, pace the thalidomide story which is directly related.
(Hat tip to Metafilter)
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