Our Natural Ingredients Providing
Umami & Kokumi Taste

What is Umami taste?

The umami taste was first scientifically identified in 1908 by Kikunae Ikeda, a professor from the Tokyo Imperial University. He noticed that the taste of kombu soup stock was distinct from sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. He named it umami. Umami is the taste of “savoriness”. It is from the Japanese word “umai” meaning delicious or palatable and is represented by a mouth-watering sensation. It is generally associated with meaty, brothy flavors, although it can be found in many different types of food.

The umami taste can be delivered by foods such as shellfish, cured meats, mushrooms, ripe tomatoes, seaweed, or any fermented or aged products. Parmesan cheese and soy sauce are some examples.

What is the common denominator to all those foods? All the mentioned foods are naturally rich in savory substances, such as inosine-5’-monophosphate (IMP) and guanylo-5’-monophosphate (GMP). These naturally occurring substances are responsible for eliciting salivary secretion. They enhance appetite and increase food palatability, thus making the food delicious!

What does Kokumi mean?

Kokumi, instead of being a separate taste, is more like a sensation that combines primary tastes and physical properties (e.g., viscosity). In Japan, “koku” has long been used as a sensory attribute to describe the delicious mouthfeel of food, while the term “kokumi” was coined to denote koku and the compounds that can elicit it (these compounds are known as kokumi substances). Kokumi substances usually have no inherent taste; if they do, the taste is faint. However, the addition of kokumi compounds may modify the intensity of other basic tastes, to contribute to a fuller, more complex, long-lasting flavor in foods.

Kokumi-active peptides, which are distributed in many kinds of foods, induce a rich and long-lasting mouthfeel. In 1990, Japanese researchers noticed that adding water extract of garlic could make soup taste fuller and richer. This complicated flavor could not be explained by any of the five basic tastes. Therefore, it was defined as a sensation. The “kokumi sensation” was mainly composed of three characteristics: thickness, mouthfulness and continuity. Kokumi sensations can be caused by several compounds, such as peptides, calcium, protamine, glutathione and L-histidine.

Ingredients delivering umami taste

Why are they relevant for the food industry?

Several Mintel studies highlight consumers’ interest in eating more natural and less-processed diets. This represents an opportunity for brands to remove artificial additives and source natural, less- processed ingredients. Consumer concerns about artificial ingredients opens up opportunities for natural alternatives that are compatible with consumer aspirations for clean label.

New trends are prompting consumers to dine at home: prepared meals should deliver comfort food as well as innovation, exotic taste, and “excitement to the taste buds”.

The rise of plant-based foods requires a diversification of protein sources and flavors, while keeping an eye to taste appeal and delicious solutions.
Umami taste and kokumi sensation are key to delivering an enhanced taste experience.

Lallemand’s offerings

Yeast extracts and other yeast-based specialties are natural ingredients produced with gentle heat treatment and partial or total separation of the inner part of the cell, rich in protein, from the yeast cell wall. According to the strain and production conditions, yeast-based ingredients can be naturally rich in savory molecules associated with umami taste and kokumi mouthfulness. These include nucleotides, glutathione and other molecules. The inclusion of our natural ingredients in your formula will result in a succulent, earthy, complex and long-lasting savory taste.

Let’s know more about this offering!

Toravita® portfolio

Yeast is a unicellular microorganism that reproduces by budding and is classified in the fungus kingdom. Yeast species like Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been used for centuries, in their active form, to produce food and drinks such as bread and beer, thanks to their fermenting capability. When inactivated or partially hydrolyzed and inactivated, they become a very interesting, natural and clean label ingredient for the food industry. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is not the only yeast species that can be used for its nutritional and flavoring properties. Different types of yeast are suitable for human consumption. Torula yeast is one of them. Its unique profile make it a perfect flavoring ingredient and savory carrier. The umami donation of Torula yeast plays a relevant role in rounding-up flavors to allow a mouthwatering perception in different savory preparations.

Lyfe® portfolio

Yeast extract is a versatile food ingredient derived from the same yeast used for bread baking and beer production. This natural ingredient, similarly to herbs and spices, helps to improve the savory profile of food. It can intensify and add depth to flavor, enriching it with umami taste or donating specific notes.

The main use of yeast extracts is in the flavoring characterization of savory products, from meat and meat alternatives to soups, sauces and snacks. With their deep and intense taste, selected yeast extracts can contribute to rounding-up flavors and extending the savory sensation, adding complexity and long-lasting perceptions. Yeast extracts with a high protein level (ones containing free amino acids, nucleotides, or glutathione) can especially impact the flavor profile.

Our selection

Our Savory experts have selected for you these culinary ingredients that deliver umami and kokumi taste!

Enrich the taste of prepared meals and increase consumers’ eating experience

Toravita® 054

Produced by our MSY facility in Minnesota, USA, it is a unique Torula autolyzed yeast with a naturally high protein content (≥ 50%) and abundance in savory-related molecules, such as nucleotides, is an umami ingredient well-suited for a variety of food applications, from snacks to spice blends and marinades, enabling the achievement of a rich taste profile in animal and plant-based meals.

High-Lyfe® 605 A

A unique combination of naturally occurring glutathione and cysteine molecules, with a complex meaty taste close to boiled poultry, High-Lyfe® 605 A provides deliciousness, mouthfeel, and continuity together with a long-lasting taste donation. It intensifies the taste perception by increasing and balancing the sweet, salty and umami tang. By adding this Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast extract, we will contribute to the taste maturation of your favorite preparations.

Who is Lallemand Bio-Ingredients

The Bio-Ingredients division of Lallemand develops, manufactures and markets high-value yeast products. Because of Lallemand’s knowledge and experience, we enjoy helping customers best use these products for their particular application. Deeply rooted in research and development; Lallemand Bio-Ingredients has the knowledge, experience, and technical capacity to aid in the development of new products as well as beloved, time-tested, household formulas.

Lallemand prides itself on providing options which are both sustainable and clean, empowering the food industry and consumers to follow their preferred lifestyle and culinary practices.

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