Free Amino Acids, Taste, and Appetite

Ana San Gabriel D.V.M., M.S.

Associate General Manager

Global Umami Communication Group

Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

European Research(ers’) Day December 11, 2015

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Personal Profile

PSU

Tokyo University

UAB

STF8 program 1994

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Sciente and Technology Fellowship program

Language Basic Culture

Strong Netwrok Among Fellows

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Cultural Shock

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Ajinomoto Philosophy

We create better lives globally by contribtuing to significant advances in food and health and by working for life

Consumer Food • Japan • International

Amino Science Animal/Plant nutrition Life style related materials Healthcare • Pharmaceuticals • Diagnostic • Specialized nutrition

Eat Well, Live Well.

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Professor Kikunae Ikeda Born in Kyoto 1864, in 1899 studied chemistry in Leipzig Germany under Dr. Wilhelm Ostwald, Nobel Prize of Chemistry 1909 for his work on chemical equilibrium and reaction rates.

Kikunae Ikeda, Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry in the College of Science at Tokyo imperial University

Wilhelm Ostwald University of Leipzig

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The Japanese Medical doctor Hizu Miyake wrote a paper about ‘Food and digestion’ indicating that good taste promotes digestion.

Prof Kikunae wanted to improve the nutritional status of Japanese people that was a developing country at that time

Professor Kikunae Ikeda

Good Taste Good Digestion

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C COO- +H3N

H

CH2

CH2

C O OH

L-Glutamic acid

Discovery of Umami Taste

The substance responsible for the unique UMAMI taste of kombu broth was glutamic acid

Kikunae Ikeda used kombu broth to isolate the taste substance (12 kg of kombu → 6 g of glutamate)

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C COO- +H3N

H

CH2

CH2

C O O-

L-Glutamate

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Entrepreneurship (1909)

Professor Kikunae Ikeda

Dicoverer of umami taste

Saburosuke Suzuki II

Founder of Ajinomoto Group

Affordable seasonings so simple foods become delicious to alliviate malnutrition in Japan

Innovation Spirit

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Patent to Produce Glutamate

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Kikunae Ikeda Shintaro Kodama Akira Kuninaka

Glutamate Inosinate Guanilate

1908 1913 1957

Discovery of Umami Subatances

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0

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Asp

Thr

Ser

Asn

Glu

Gln

Pro

Gly

Ala

Val

Cys

Met

Ile

Leu

Tyr

Ph

e

Trp

Lys

His

Arg

IMP

0

20

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60

Asp

Thr

Ser

Asn

Glu

Gln

Pro

Gly

Ala

Val

Cys

Met

Ile

Leu

Tyr

Ph

e

Trp

Lys

His

Arg

IMP

0

20

40

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Asp

Thr

Ser

Asn

Glu

Gln

Pro

Gly

Ala

Val

Cys

Met

Ile

Leu

Tyr

Ph

e

Trp

Lys

His

Arg

IMP

(mg/100ml) (mg/100ml)

(mg/100ml)

Japanese soup stock (konbu)

0

20

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Asp

Thr

Ser

Asn

Glu

Gln

Pro

Gly

Ala

Val

Cys

Met

Ile

Leu

Tyr

Ph

e

Trp

Lys

His

Arg

IMP

(mg/100ml) Japanese soup stock

(konbu and dried bonito)

Chicken soup stock (chicken and vegetables)

Chinese soup stock

Free Amino Acids in Soup Stocks

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0

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20

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Asp

Thr

Ser

Asn

Glu

Gln

Pro

Gly

Ala

Val

Cys

Met

Ile

Leu

Tyr

Ph

e

Trp

Lys

His

Arg

0

10

20

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Asp

Thr

Ser

Asn

Glu

Gln

Pro

Gly

Ala

Val

Cys

Met

Ile

Leu

Tyr

Ph

e

Trp

Lys

His

Arg

HVP → New Products Traditional eating ways / culture

Isolated glutamate from gluten to produce MSG.

Used an amino acids mixture to produce bouillon cube.

1909

1908

Traditional Japanese soup stock

Traditional European soup stock

(mg/100ml)

(mg/100ml)

Kikunae Ikeda (1864-1936)

Julius Maggi (1846-1912)

1886

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Sweet

Salty

Peppery

Buttery

Corn-like Sweet

Salty

Peppery Buttery

Corn-like

Mouth fullness

Boiled and seasoned Boiled and seasoned with 0.5% MSG

Effect of Umami Compounds in Foods

(S. E. Cairncross and L. B. Sjostrom, 1950; J. E. Caul, 1957)

Summer Squash

Increases the following qualities 1. Whole taste specially saltiness 2. Continuity, mouthfullenss,

impact and thickness 3. Increases palatability and whole

harmony

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Umami is not a new Taste

Ancient Romans of 7th and 8th Century B.C. used a fermented fish sauce called garum as their universal condiment to flavor food. (Rich in umami compounds)

Garum was made of guts and parts of fish that otherwise will be discarded.

Ruins of garum factory in Baelo Claudia, near Tarifa, Spain may have been the first food industry

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Dietary Amino Acids

There are two forms of glutamate in food:

1. Free Amino Acids

Free glutamate and free amino acids are taste active compounds

2. Protein bound

Proteins have no taste. They breakdown into free amino acids in the

intestine

*All proteins contain between 10-15 % of glutamate

Asp

Lys

Leu

Glu

Tyr Lau

Glu

Asp

Free amino acids

Proteins

Lys

Asp

Lys

Leu Glu

Tyr Lau Glu Asp Lys

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How to Increase Free Amino Acids in Foods

Asp

Lys

Leu Glu

Tyr Lau Glu Asp Lys

Asp

Lys

Leu

Glu

Tyr Lau

Glu

Asp

Free amino acids

Lys

Proteins

Fermentation Drying Curing...

Cheese

Cured ham

Fermented soy beans (Miso)

Tasty foods

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First Recount of Umami Taste Receptor

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Discovery of Taste Receptor Genes

A group from the

Unviversity of

California San

Diego

characterized the

properties of

amino acid

receptors in vitro

Nature, 2002 22

Vallate Papilla Foliate

papilla

Fungiform

papilla Taste buds

Tongue

Basal cells

Taste

cells Taste

pore

Microvilli

Gustatory

afferents

Anatomy of taste

Taste Papillae

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a

b

c

d

mGluR1a

Rat vallate taste bud

mGluR1a

villin

overlay

e f

g h

Vallate taste bud

OC

OC

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Source: San Gabriel et al. FEBS Letters, 2007

Glutamate receptors in Stomach

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mGluR1 Pepsinogen C mGluR1 + Pep.

Source: Widmayer et al., Histochem Cell Bio (2011)

T1R3

Gut Brain Communication

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“The fifth taste ‘umami’ could be

beneficial for health” The Science of Taste, a symposium organized by Danish Royal Academy of Science held in August 2014. Based on the press release by Bio Med Central, more than 70 web articles introduced ‘umami could be beneficial for health.

Prof. Ole Mouritsen/Umami: Unlocking the secret of the fifth taste (Colombia University Press) Physiological meaning of umami Umami in natural foods, fermented foods, concentrated extracts and paste, MSG, etc. Science on umami

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Eat Umami, Eat Less July 21, 2014

Understanding the role of umami

in appetite control. /Sussex Univ.

In this experiment MSG+IMP enhanced the flavor and promote a feeling of Satiety among participants

27 participants, a bowl of carrot soup with or without umami, carbohydrate and protein 45 minutes prior to lunch. Lunch, 450g plate of pasta with sauce was served.

Survey to rate how alert, clear-headed, Energetic, full, hungry, nauseous, and/or thirsty they felt before eating. They also filled out surveys about their appetites and moods. 28

Experience in Japan

Socrates Confucius

WEST JAPAN

Illusion of Equality • Stronger eye contact • First name • Legs crossed, hand in pocket • Random seating

False modesty? Presumption?

Illusion of Inequality • Express respect • Family names • Formal standing • Seating arrengement

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What is culture

Observable behaviors or actions

Shared customs, «common sense» Shared values, unwritten rules

CAN SEE

CAN NOT SEE

Culture is like an iceberg, much it is hidden

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Cultural Values

Individualism (I) Self-relience, independence

Collectivism (we) relationship and harmony with the group

Minimize hierarchial differences

Expects and accepts hierarchy

Tolerates risks Avoids risks

Low context, direct explicit communication, emphasis the task, argument and persuasion rather than harmony

High context, indirect implicit communication (body language, context) emphasis is harmony

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LOW CONTEXT Argument and persuasion «Yes means yes, no means no» Indirectness is viewed with suspicion and dishonest The meaning of words is important and the bases for contracts to manage disputes

HIG CONTEXT Harmony and social relationships –face-saving «Read between the lines» Message is subtle and often indirect Emphasis to body language, situation and timing of the message. The way something is said is meaningufl. Indirectness is sign of respect

*Adapted from E.T. Hall, Beyond Culture (1976)

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Organizational Structure

Top Management

Middle Management

Front Line Staff

Hierarchical Organization

Information flow top down

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Ideal vs Real

Communication with own superior

Innovators → young employees ~30 years

Power Distance Index (PDI)

Level of resistance for objecting againts superiors

Staff

Manegement

Superior from other department

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Be Objective D.I.E. process

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• Describe situation factually

• Interpret the facts in sereval ways, ensuring you include at least one positive read one

• Evaluate each interpretation to level your own reaction

Thanks for your attention

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