Elsevier

Physiology & Behavior

Volume 24, Issue 6, June 1980, Pages 1169-1172
Physiology & Behavior

Taste synergism between monosodium glutamate and disodium 5′-guanylate

https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(80)90066-9Get rights and content

Abstract

The examples of “synergism” reported in the taste literature fit the common definition of the term but may merely reflect normal additivity in the taste system. That is, the perceived intensities of these “synergistic” mixtures exceed the sums of the perceived intensities of the unmixed taste components (addition of perceived intensities), but do not exceed the perceived intensities predicted by adding along the expanding psychophysical functions which describe the unmixed taste components (stimulus addition). True synergism requires that the perceived intensity of a mixture be greater than that predicted by both types of additivity. Subjects used magnitude estimation to judge the perceived intensity of unmixed monosodium glutamate and disodium 5′-guanylate and mixtures of these two taste substances. The mixtures showed synergism according to both criteria. The robustness of this phenomenon is striking; for all subjects the taste mixtures showed true synergism. True synergism in taste is an extremely rare phenomenon.

References (13)

  • L.M. Bartoshuk

    Taste mixtures: Is mixture suppression related to compression?

    Physiol. Behav.

    (1975)
  • L.M. Bartoshuk et al.

    Mixtures of substances with similar tastes: A test of a new model of taste mixture interactions

  • A.C. Dahlberg et al.

    The relative sweetness of sugars as affected by concentration

    N.Y. Agric. exp. Station Bull. (Cornell Univ.)

    (1941)
  • L.E. MarksL.E. Marks
  • H.R. Moskowitz

    Models for sugar sweetness

  • H.R. Moskowitz

    Sourness of acid mixtures

    J. exp. Psychol.

    (1974)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (69)

  • 3.02 - Phylogeny of Chemical Sensitivity

    2020, The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference: Volume 1-7, Second Edition
  • Context effects at the level of the sip and bite

    2019, Context: The Effects of Environment on Product Design and Evaluation
  • Experimental measurement and modelling of solubility of inosine-5′-monophosphate disodium in pure and mixed solvents

    2014, Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics
    Citation Excerpt :

    Especially in the cases of pharmaceuticals, biological macromolecular foods, and food additives [3], their solubility in various solvents is an important property that needs to be known for the formulation of fine chemicals and designing their production and purification processes [4]. Inosine-5′-monophosphate disodium (5′-IMPNa2), which is known to be a kind of nucleotide derivative, is widely used in the fields of food, pharmacological, and health products [5]. The molecular structure of 5′-IMPNa2 is shown in figure 1.

  • Sensory evaluation of bitterness and astringency sub-qualities of wine phenolic compounds: Synergistic effect and modulation by aromas

    2014, Food Research International
    Citation Excerpt :

    To avoid comparisons with “predicted” perceived intensities, in our study the mixtures and the unmixed components were tasted as the same concentration. Furthermore, the use of scales with ratio properties (that is the case for the Labeled Magnitude Scale used in this study) has proven to be successful for demonstrating synergism (Rifkin & Bartoshuk, 1980). In our study on mixtures of phenolic compounds, all mixtures were tasted at the same concentration as the individual compounds, so the total amount of stimulus is constant in all the tasted samples.

  • Gustatory and extragustatory functions of mammalian taste receptors

    2011, Physiology and Behavior
    Citation Excerpt :

    Although, as mentioned above, an involvement in umami taste sensation was proposed for several receptors, strong evidence supports the TAS1R1/TAS1R3 heteromer as the predominant umami taste receptor. Of all candidates, the TAS1R1/TAS1R3 is not only activated by l-glutamate, but this activation is strongly increased in the presence of 5′-ribonucleotides, a fact that is considered to be a hallmark of umami taste as for example explored in human psychophysical analyses [77]. Another well documented feature of umami taste is its activation by the mGluR agonist AP-4 [78], which is also potentiated by 5′-ribonucleotides [79,80].

View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text