"Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
...
> Melinda > wrote:
>>
>>Apparently some people only call nucleotides etc. "flavor potentiaors" and
>>salt in this definition weouldn't be because it's a flavor by itself (in
>>other words, some people define flavor potentiator as something which
>>enhances flavor but has no flavor or smell profile of it's own). I only
>>bring this up becuase it would indicate a difference between salt and
>>sugar
>>which have flavor, and MSG or nucleotides which are primarily acting as
>>potentiators (I'll give you the source for all this babble at the end of
>>the
>>post). Anyhow...
>
> I thought glutamate was classified as a seperate flavor too?
> --scott
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Yeah, actually one webpage I looked at had the old "four tastes" and one had
the more recent-to-the-West five tastes with umami added. One of those pages
I mentioned also had info about the specific molecules that trigger 'sour"
and "bitter" etc., which I found very interesting.

Is MSG still considered an evil substance to add to food? I'd seek some out
to add to my food as an experiment but I seem to recall that it was or is
considered bad for the health.

Melinda