Umami is world-renowned as the fifth flavor that humans can recognize in conjunction with bitter, salty, sour or sour and sweet.
It is the best kept secret of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine and much is due to monosodium glutamate powder (MSG) called Aji-No-Moto, which resulted after a chemical process that rescues an important flavor molecule from seaweed where umami stands out: the amino acid glutamate.
Under this premise is that Done Properly created a product in a 100% natural way, since MSG is questioned because it would cause health damage by associating with risk factors such as metabolic syndrome, obesity, kidney damage and oxidative stress.
In this way this innovation revolutionizes the food market making both solid, liquid and baked foods healthier with a much lower percentage of sodium and enhancing each of its flavors.
The discovery was made when Chilean experts realized that although there were certain foods such as tomato and cheese that naturally had umami incorporated, there was a product that had it in higher values than fungi. After a fermentation process they were able to extract it and multiply it.
“Some species of fungi have high umami content, filamentous yeast fungi such as Mushroom Paris, Shiitake and Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) are one of the richest sources in umami. Our process uses enzymes (which are molecular scissors) to deconstruct mushrooms and yeasts and maximize the production of umami molecules,” says Freddy Boehmwald, scientific director of Done Properly.
In this way, thanks to umami you can create healthier and tastier foods naturally, making the producers of these tasty foods, but complying with the new labelling law, where more than 30 countries are looking to implement that requires products to have less sodium, among others.
“Umami is vegan, safe, free of chemicals, contaminants, pesticides and other synthetic molecules. Its addition in finished product allows to flavor and also enhance the intrinsic flavor of the food without sodium intake. They are used in low concentrations (0.1 -1%) and allows a decrease in the use of salt (NaCl) of the finished product by 30%. These conditions are highly attractive for companies looking to keep their products labeled clean or looking to add natural and sustainable ingredients to their finished products,” explains Boehmwald.
