Perceptive maps of dishes varying in glutamate content with professional and naive subjects

The present study was undertaken to examine how western subjects perceive umami taste and how they can sensory discriminate among dish variants having different natural umami taste (glutamate) levels. The food matrix used in this study was prepared following a traditional Italian recipe of asparagus soup with ingredients having natural high endogenous content of umami compounds (i.e. Parmigiano, commercial meat broth, and fresh asparagus). The ingredients ratio was modified in order to modulate the flavour and, in particular, the umami taste. The study enrolled two groups of subjects: one group of panellists tested for normal taste perception but with no sensory training, and a second group of professional panellists trained in the recognition and quantification of umami taste. Panellists in both groups participated in a free sorting and verbalisation tasks. Additionally, a descriptive profiling was performed by the trained group. Both the groups distinguished the samples according to their umami compounds levels, although only the trained panellists recognised the taste increase as umami and provided a classification of the samples closer to formulation’s differences. The untrained subjects distinguished the soup samples for flavour intensification, although they did not recognise the ingredients responsible for enhancing the flavour.