Journal de la nutrition et des sciences alimentaires
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Taste Active Components in Thai Foods: A Review of Thai Traditional Seasonings

Nattida Chotechuang

The cooking culture around the world is diverse depending parts of the world. Each region has used own traditional seasonings to add rich tastes and flavors for dishes. The fermented soy beans and fish sauce, garum, were used since 200 BC in China and ancient Rome, respectively, to impart the umami taste. In early 1900s, the umami taste, a pleasant savory taste imparted by substances such as glutamate, inosinate and guanylate, was recognized globally as the fifth basic taste which is independent and different from the other basic tastes. Past several years, besides the taste, glutamate-rich ingredients have also an ability to enhance sensory properties. Fermented products from fish, shellfish and soybean are rich in umami taste substances and have a long history, continuing today, in Southeast Asian countries including Thailand. Wide use of umami in daily dishes in every region of Thailand including north, northeast, central and south, by adding these fermented products as indispensable seasonings is common, despite of different methods. These suggest that umami taste compounds have generally presented in Thai foods and are important key taste active compounds for universal deliciousness.