NUTRITIONAL EFFECTS OF UMAMI IN THE HUMAN DIET

Experimental studies have demonstrated that adding monosodium glutamat e (MSG) to a large array of different savory foods influences palatabi lity, food preferences, and food choice. Sensory evaluation tests have shown that both traditional and novel foods get higher palatability r atings if MSG is added at an appropriate dose. The acquisition of a li king for a novel food is facilitated by the addition of MSG to the rec ipe. In institutionalized elderly persons and hospitalized diabetic pa tients, the addition of MSG to target foods in a lunch meal induced an increased intake of those specific foods, with a subsequent decreased intake of foods presented later in the meal. In both populations, foo d selection was affected by MSG but meal size remained the same. Exper iencing the positive effects of MSG is thus possible without inducing hyperphagia. Research should now investigate the long-term effects of widespread MSG use on body weight control.