Umami was discovered by Kikunae Ikeda, a chemistry professor at Tokyo Imperial University, who identified its chemical basis in 1908. After noticing the savory depth of dashi broth made with kombu seaweed and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), he studied kelp and isolated crystals of glutamic acid (glutamate), the compound responsible for the taste. He named it umami, and it is now counted among the five basic tastes alongside sweet, sour, salty and bitter.
Ikeda went on to develop and patent a process for mass-producing monosodium glutamate (MSG), sold under the name Ajinomoto, meaning “essence of flavor.” He also confirmed that glutamate contributes to the flavor of meat, seaweed and tomatoes.
Source: Wikipedia, “Kikunae Ikeda”.
Image: Professor Kikunae Ikeda, photographer unknown, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.