Iannilli Emilia, Pötz Emilise Lucerne, Hummel Thomas
Department of Psychology, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria.
Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
Foods. 2024 Dec 25;14(1):22. doi: 10.3390/foods14010022.
The umami taste is well validated in Asian culture but remains less recognized and accepted in European cultures despite its presence in natural local products. This study explored the sensory and emotional perceptions of umami in 233 Austrian participants who had lived in Austria for most of their lives. Using blind tasting, participants evaluated monosodium glutamate (MSG) dissolved in water, providing open-ended verbal descriptions, pleasantness ratings, and comparisons to a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution. Discrimination tests excluded MSG ageusia, and basic demographic data were collected. A text semantic-based analysis (TSA) was employed to analyze the emotional valence and descriptive content of participants' responses. The results showed that MSG was predominantly associated with neutral sentiments across the group, including both female and male subgroups. "Sour" was the most frequent taste descriptor, while "unfamiliar" characterized the perceptual experience. Pleasantness ratings for MSG and NaCl were positively correlated, suggesting that overcoming the unfamiliarity of umami could enhance its acceptance and align it with the pleasantness of salt. These findings advance the understanding of umami sensory perception and its emotional and cultural acceptance in European contexts, offering valuable insights for integrating umami into Western dietary and sensory frameworks.
鲜味在亚洲文化中已得到充分验证，但在欧洲文化中，尽管当地天然产品中存在鲜味，却仍未得到充分认可和接受。本研究探讨了233名一生中大部分时间都生活在奥地利的参与者对鲜味的感官和情感认知。通过盲测，参与者对溶解在水中的味精（MSG）进行评估，提供开放式的口头描述、愉悦度评分，并与氯化钠（NaCl）溶液进行比较。辨别测试排除了味精味觉缺失者，并收集了基本人口统计数据。采用基于文本语义的分析（TSA）来分析参与者回答的情感效价和描述内容。结果表明，在整个群体中，包括女性和男性亚组，味精主要与中性情绪相关。“酸”是最常见的味觉描述词，而“陌生”则描述了这种感知体验。味精和氯化钠的愉悦度评分呈正相关，这表明克服对鲜味的陌生感可以提高其接受度，并使其与盐的愉悦度相匹配。这些发现增进了我们对欧洲背景下鲜味感官认知及其情感和文化接受度的理解，为将鲜味融入西方饮食和感官框架提供了有价值的见解。
