Umami and Beyond: An Interview with Joe Formanek, PhD

Although he’s an expert on all things umami, I actually met Joe through homebrewing circles. It’s hard to find another homebrewer as accomplished as he is, with numerous national titles for his brilliant beers. Of course, it’s helpful that he has a background in flavor science. At the time of the interview in 2019, Joe was Director of New Product Development for Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America, Inc., the US-based branch of the company that literally put umami on the map and into everybody’s toolkit. 

Can you briefly describe your role at Ajinomoto?

My role is to understand customer trends and to develop new applications utilizing our innovative technologies.

Like the astronomers who demoted Pluto from full planetary status, some scientists say that umami doesn’t deserve its designation as a “basic taste,” because its effect is subtle and not always apparent. How do you and your colleagues think about that?

Without a question, umami is the fifth taste.  While the impact of umami has been known for millennia, research conducted in the late 1990’s proved that humans have receptors in the oral cavity as well as in the GI tract that are specific for glutamate, which is the primary natural compound for umami delivery.

Any thoughts or tips to help people pay attention to umami?

Umami is a basic taste enhancer in a wide variety of foods.  What many consumers don’t realize is that MSG is the purest form of umami.  When you taste MSG by itself, it has a slightly saline character and an interesting taste that we now understand as being umami.  However, when put into foods where other spices and protein flavors are present, MSG brings out the complexities of those flavors and makes the overall flavor more holistic.  It is important to have that balance to allow foods to have their most desirable flavor.

Do umami compounds have specific thresholds, or is that more determined by attention/awareness and context?

It depends on the overall flavor balance.  Umami is more evident in systems where proteins are present.  You will not see a great effect of umami in a sweet candy-like system, though you might find umami in a fermented milk system where there is some sweetness.

There is umami from glutamate, and then there are different umami-related nucleotides (guanylates and inosinates) that are additive on the palate. How do they all work together?

Glutamate is the essence of umami and delivers true umami character. There are some other materials that do have side activity which also deliver some umami – aspartic or succinic acid, for example. Inosinates and Guanylates (nucleotides) do not deliver umami by themselves, but rely on the presence of glutamate in the food to amplify the effect of the glutamate present through a synergistic effect. Nucleotides have receptor sites close to those for glutamates and due to conformational changes in the glutamate receptor by these nucleotides, an individual molecule of glutamate is allowed to signal multiple times instead of just once, amplifying its signaling to the brain.

Kokumi is even more subtle and mysterious. How should people pay attention to kokumi—or is it even possible to do so?

Kokumi is another effect, like umami, that we have experienced for millennia, but until recently had no understanding of what it truly was. You think about traditional processes that a fine chef might use to deliver a full-bodied desirable food – making stocks, long simmering, even aging of cheeses and meats. These processes all deliver a recognizable difference compared to the original material used in these processes. Aged meat has richness and complexity, and aged cheese has more body and is generally more delicious. A good example of this is a stew that has been simmering for hours and now contains all of a deep, rich marriage of flavors unlike its original state before cooking. That deliciousness, harmony of flavors and complex roundness is kokumi.  

Kokumi delivers an experience on top of the basic tastes and aromatics of the system. It can help bring components together and add more complexity to some of the individual ingredients such as pepper and garlic. In fact, when Ajinomoto started conducting research to understand the kokumi effect, researchers began by examining onion and garlic. When you use onion and garlic in food, it delivers more than just the taste and aroma—it also delivers a richness and body. Ajinomoto scientists examined the compounds in these materials and found that there are specific ones that deliver desirable body and complexity, but do not have a taste by themselves. This is now the definition of a kokumi compound.

We now have a great understanding of different kokumi compounds and how they can deliver desirable characteristics throughout the flavor profile of foods—from start to finish.

How do kokumi (gamma-glutamyl) peptides create mouthfeel? Research shows CaSR (calcium-sensing) receptors on oral touch cells in mice responding to it, but do you know how that translates into a percept of an unctuous mouthfeel? 

We’ve done physiological studies looking at regions of the brain what are lit up when the CaSR kokumi receptor in the oral cavity is actuated—basically to see if there are some unique areas that might indicate that kokumi is the 6th taste. It turns out that the areas involved in umami, sweet and salt perception are all lit up—but not someplace unique. So somehow the brain processes the signal that it receives when sweet, salt and umami are activated as being rich and complex. 

Is kokumi present in beer, wine or any other alcoholic beverage?

There is potential for kokumi to exist in beers that are more savory based – such as stouts or other trendy beers such as “milkshake” styles or others where more body is desirable. However, “body” is not a commonly manipulated variable. Body is typically modified through mashing procedures. There is some thought that decoction can deliver a kokumi-like character, and can deliver a preferred product compared to non-decocted beers.

Any unexpected uses out there in the food or drink world for umami and/or kokumi?

Although not unexpected, umami can be used for overall flavor enhancement, while kokumi can be used for more body and complexity in a savory system.

Any other chemical groups lurking out there that have subtle taste effects that scientists are just learning about?

I’m sure there are!

I can’t let you go without asking you about your beers

I am a flavor-layering aficionado. I am the direct opposite of those people that make SMASH beers. I feel that you need a certain level of flavor complexity in any beer in order to make it interesting. This goes for both the grain bill as well as for the hop types and additions for flavor. This is what I was taught to look for when I first started brewing. Certain beers, such as lighter ales and the like, require less complexity and you look for flavors that complement more delicate characteristics. Bigger beers, such as Imperial Stouts, can utilize many layers to create the resulting complexity and uniqueness. These are typically beers to be savored, not quaffed. However, even in quaffable beers, a mild complexity is appreciated.

On the same note, I also describe myself as an aroma-layering expert. I look for interesting combinations of hops that can deliver combinations of aromas that are complementary to the beer. Combinations of citrus, woody and dank characters can make an IPA more dynamic. Along with appearance, the aroma is the first character that we typically note and appreciate in a beer.

I’m always looking for new malt ingredients and examining how well they integrate with others in order to add more complexity to my beer flavor systems! The most recent imperial stout that I brewed has a total of 17 different malts with different levels of caramelization and roasted notes.