Flavors (Including Umami Ingredients of Edible Mushrooms)

Flavor is among the most essential factor for food selection and determines the taste, trigeminal and aroma of the food item. Currently, five main types of flavors are recognized i.e. sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami. Umami flavor has a pleasant savory taste and is becoming popular in the food industry for the enhancement of food taste. Edible mushrooms are one of the major sources of umami flavor. Similarly different natural and synthetic flavorings and flavorants are added to enhance food products. These flavorings and flavorants also have health benefits and apprehensions to human health. The natural plant-based flavor products should be encouraged as they have health benefits and are being used for thousands of years as flavorings & flavorants and as traditional plant-based medicines. The food industry is looking for new plant-based flavoring agents to satisfy consumer demands.

Keywords: Flavorings and flavorants, Food additives, Synthetic flavorings agents, Umami flavor.