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Scientists Identify Sixth Taste: Fat

Posted by Soulskill on from the mmm-sweet-coronary dept.

New submitter shuheng writes with news that a study out of Purdue claims to have identified the sixth distinct taste known to humans: fat. The scientists say it should be called oleogustus which means "fatty taste" in Latin (abstract). Professor Richard Mattes said, Most of the fat we eat is in the form of triglycerides, which are molecules comprised of three fatty acids. Triglycerides often impart appealing textures to foods like creaminess. However, triglycerides are not a taste stimulus. Fatty acids that are cleaved off the triglyceride in the food or during chewing in the mouth stimulate the sensation of fat. The taste component of fat is often described as bitter or sour because it is unpleasant, but new evidence reveals fatty acids evoke a unique sensation satisfying another element of the criteria for what constitutes a basic taste, just like sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami.

55 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. I just licked my wife. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Didn't taste like anything. I call BS.

  2. Oleogustus Gloop ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    He was my fave.

  3. Didn't some Japanese researchers find this out? by mlts · · Score: 1

    I recall reading around 2012, Japanese researchers getting similar results on this study. It is good it is confirmed... but not groundbreaking research by any means.

    1. Re:Didn't some Japanese researchers find this out? by sycodon · · Score: 2

      That was when they "found" Savory, or, Umami

      But as anyone who has taken a bite of medium rare, Prime Ribeye knows, fat is where all the taste is.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    2. Re:Didn't some Japanese researchers find this out? by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      Why did it take so long anyway? Skimmed milk and fat free yogurt has existed for how many decades, and it's only NOW that the people in lab coats are figuring out neither taste as good as the real thing?

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    3. Re:Didn't some Japanese researchers find this out? by pjt33 · · Score: 4, Informative

      You're about a century out. Umami was discovered at the start of the 20th century, and the name has been adopted internationally since the mid-1980s.

    4. Re:Didn't some Japanese researchers find this out? by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      Or every cooking show ever, where they chant "fat is flavor!" like a battle cry?

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    5. Re:Didn't some Japanese researchers find this out? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Because sometimes it isn't just about the fat itself, but its ability to carry flavor and change how hard or easy it is to taste other flavors within a particular food.

    6. Re:Didn't some Japanese researchers find this out? by AK+Marc · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The greasy texture of milk was known. It was just belived that fat, like some spices, activates the primary tastes, not that it had a separate taste. Just because it didn't have its separate category (sensors) doesn't mean they thought it had no taste.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    7. Re:Didn't some Japanese researchers find this out? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Unami the only known flavour that has exactly ONE molecule as it's sole cause.

      Actually, there are a variety of proteins the receptors can respond to, although glutamates is the strongest, and that is still a family of molecules considering there are different ions or molecules you can get from attaching things to glutamic acid.

      one molecule can not be described as a flavour

      Why not? Because you just declare so, and then complain people shouldn't trust what others just declare? If there is a type of receptor that can produce a distinct sensation, regardless of how broad or narrow its trigger, then it should qualify as a flavor.

    8. Re:Didn't some Japanese researchers find this out? by Reziac · · Score: 1

      If you can still see the food, there's not enough butter.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  4. Wasn't it already accepted there's more than 5? by SAN1701 · · Score: 1, Informative

    Maybe many more than five?

    1. Re:Wasn't it already accepted there's more than 5? by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      No?
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    2. Re:Wasn't it already accepted there's more than 5? by Culture20 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's long been believed that are five distinct things that your sense of taste can detect (sweet, sour, bitter, salty umami.

      That's only four. Oxford Comma-Man, AWAaay!

    3. Re:Wasn't it already accepted there's more than 5? by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      I think you're confusing sixth taste with sixth sense.

    4. Re:Wasn't it already accepted there's more than 5? by dbIII · · Score: 1

      I think you're confusing sixth taste with sixth sense.

      I taste dead ... ok let's not go there. That way lies madness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K...

  5. Artifical fat flavor. by sims+2 · · Score: 1

    So now do we need to make a artificial fat flavor for health reasons like they do with the diet soda?

    --
    Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    1. Re:Artifical fat flavor. by sycodon · · Score: 3, Funny

      Ribeye Cream Soda!

      I'd buy it.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    2. Re:Artifical fat flavor. by neminem · · Score: 1

      Isn't that basically what MSG is?

    3. Re:Artifical fat flavor. by digsbo · · Score: 1

      No, MSG is supposed to be the umami flavor.

    4. Re:Artifical fat flavor. by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      MSG stimulates what they call the "savory" taste, not this new "fat" taste they're talking about.

    5. Re:Artifical fat flavor. by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      Bacon Mountain Dew

      I'd drown in it.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    6. Re:Artifical fat flavor. by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... like that?

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    7. Re:Artifical fat flavor. by sims+2 · · Score: 1

      Yes exactly like that!

      Whats even more suprising is that the wiki article states that it has the same taste as fat as far back as april 28th 2005
      yet scientists have only just now discovered that fat has a taste over 10 years later....Is that time travel I smell cooking?

      --
      Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
  6. Everything I thought I knew is wrong by rwa2 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I was about to ask where the receptors were located, then found https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... was a mistranslation debunked in the 70s :/

    1. Re:Everything I thought I knew is wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I was a participant for this study in Denver.

      Based on the experimental design, they don't really know where the receptors are located. They had us place "gelatin strips" (basically, Listerine strips minus the flavor etc) in different locations in the mouth to score sensation for different areas.

    2. Re:Everything I thought I knew is wrong by killkillkill · · Score: 1

      debunked in the 70s

      ... and still taught to to me in grade school the mid 80s

    3. Re:Everything I thought I knew is wrong by dbIII · · Score: 1

      That's the way it goes, stuff from papers takes years to make it into set textbooks. See also the "personality test" shit that HR people are using. Debunked decades ago. About all it tells you is who is good at gaming those tests.

  7. U mama by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    What can I eat that tastes umami-ish? Don't say soy sauce because this is also salty. I want it to pass the hold your nose test.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    1. Re:U mama by Khashishi · · Score: 1

      Yeast. It is sold as nutritional yeast as yellow powdery flakes.

    2. Re:U mama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      MSG

    3. Re:U mama by theArtificial · · Score: 1

      There's a restaurant called Umami Burger. They have amazing burgers, arguably the best I've had, the truffle burger made with wagyu beef (if you eat beef) I'd highly recommend starting with. The burgers are a bit pricey so it's more of a once in awhile place. Hopefully there's a location near you, it's really good.

      --
      Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
    4. Re:U mama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Umami means glutamates. Its the "Savory" flavor. Meats and cheeses have plenty. Parmesan cheese has the most glutamates of any food, per weight.

      You can also just go get bulk MSG, but its not really pleasant on it's own.

      Seaweed, from which MSG is extracted, is a good start. - Recently "roasted seatweed" has been popping up in american supermarkets - Thin sheets of seaweed toasted with a little oil and salted. It's a korean style thing and there they're served with rice and kimchee as a comfort food. The sheets are good with rice and some garlicky hot sauce (f you can't stomach kimchee. Many cant) or just good by themselves as a snack.

      Fish sauce is also good, but not everyone likes that either.

    5. Re:U mama by omnichad · · Score: 1

      lean unseasoned beef. The problem there is that the iron content has its own metallic taste (and salting/koshering would help remove this residual blood). MSG tends to also taste salty.

      I would say that the flavor of sharp (or blue) cheese has a high umami/glutamate content.

    6. Re:U mama by theArtificial · · Score: 1

      Oh cool, what did you have? I've had crap experiences at places so perhaps it's that. For example I typically associate Dennys/Burger King with salty food, the BK chicken sandwich especially. I sound like a junk food connoisseur...

      --
      Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
    7. Re:U mama by dbIII · · Score: 1

      I can distinctly and easily identify sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. But umami? Myth.

      Only two tastes for me - chilli and bland.

  8. Joke by mattwrock · · Score: 4, Funny

    Umami says you taste fat!

    --
    "Ones and zeros were everywhere. I even think I saw a two!" - Bender
  9. Re:Joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Umami's so fat she leaves a delicious taste on your tongue?

  10. Excuse me. by halivar · · Score: 1

    My mama was a saint. Take it back.

  11. Evolution's response to food scarcity? by Orne · · Score: 2

    I always figured "fat" triggered the sweet sense, but this makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. A primitive creature has to deal with food scarcity, and that means when you find something to eat, you have to make a quick decision on whether this food is going to be nutritious. Sweet tastes are full of glucose/fructose, that provide quick pick-me-up energy. Bitter and sour are good for detecting spoiled food, if eating this thing is going to make you sick. Salty and umami are like a measure of, will this food provide the vitamins that the body needs? Many cellular functions require salts (Sodium, Potassium, etc).

    So, a sense of "fatty" gives a fast feedback to the brain that the food will give long-lasting energy. I say fast, because a sense on the tongue is faster than eating and waiting for the digestive system to break down the material, then have the stomach give a signal that the food was good to eat. I've heard that its about 20 minutes for the brain to catch up to the "stomach is full" sense, so digestion sense is not quick. So when you are hungry and something is in front of you, your body needs a fast sense that the food is good to eat, so eat lots of it now.

  12. Latin? Really? by qeveren · · Score: 1

    "Oleogustus" is just a terrible word. At least "umami" doesn't sound disgusting. XD

    --
    Don't just stand there, get that other dog!
  13. Oleogustus by QuietLagoon · · Score: 2

    scientists say it should be called oleogustus

    Yeah, that rolls right off the tongue, just like "sweet" or "sour".

    1. Re:Oleogustus by dbIII · · Score: 1

      scientists say it should be called oleogustus

      Yeah, that rolls right off the tongue, just like "sweet" or "sour".

      Umami just rolls off the tongue.



      They are right, "yo mama's" jokes all the way down.

  14. Blue by bugs2squash · · Score: 1

    Sounds like the radio show where they told me that the concept of blue is relatively new, the ancients thought of the sky as being wine colored. Did the researchers create this new taste simply by naming it ?

    --
    Nullius in verba
  15. Yo mama's so umami by sjbe · · Score: 1

    At least "umami" doesn't sound disgusting.

    But it does sound like the start of a "yo mama's" joke...

  16. I thought the sixth taste was ... by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 1
    ... the taste of fear!

    And remember, in Putin's Russia, fear tastes YOU!

    --
    Similar to the upcoming US election results
  17. Re:Joke by seven+of+five · · Score: 1

    Umami so fat she's on both sides of the family...

  18. I must've missed the previous discovery by mi · · Score: 1

    basic taste, just like sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami.

    I must've missed the article about scientists identifying the fifth taste. For I have no idea, what the heck is "umami".

    (Yes, I shall search the Internet and educate myself presently.)

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re:I must've missed the previous discovery by stephenmac7 · · Score: 2

      For those too lazy to educate themselves, Umami is the "savory" taste. It's somewhat of a meaty/fishy flavor and is found in tomatoes (that's probably why many people like ketchup), mushrooms (especially dried), green tea, soy sauce, fish, and other food items. In high concentrations, it crates that "asian food taste" that many people enjoy. MSG is an artificial glutimate which attempts to emulate the umami taste of the traditional Japanese Dashi stock. However, it happens to be a little easier to prepare (and cheaper).

      --
      "No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session." -- Judge Gideon J. Tucker
    2. Re:I must've missed the previous discovery by hankwang · · Score: 1

      Actually I wonder why 'piquancy' or 'pungency' (like in pepper) is not considered a sixth taste. It is sensed by a specific receptor and it is triggered by a variety of compounds: various capsainoids from peppers and compuonds in black pepper, mustard/wasabi, raw garlic, and so on.

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  19. Six tastes were always known in Ayurveda by dmt0 · · Score: 1
    • Sweet
    • Sour
    • Salty
    • Bitter
    • Pungent
    • Astringent
  20. Zombies Have a Seventh Taste by flargleblarg · · Score: 1

    Braaaains

  21. In related news... by slew · · Score: 1

    In related news, scientists discover the result of experimenting with a 6th taste of everything: fat...

  22. Re: Didn't some Japanese researchers find this out by reboot246 · · Score: 1

    Blood unpalatable?

    Speak for yourself!

    Dr.Acula

  23. Food Ideas by foods+ideas · · Score: 1

    Food Ideas - http://foodsideas.com/