Human Development and Umami Taste

Previously we demonstrated that in very brief, one-bottle intake tests, human infants, both well nourished and protein calorie malnourished, ingested greater amounts of soup with added MSG compared with soup alone. The potentiating effect of MSG in plain aqueous solution was tested in the current experiments. In contrast to data with sucrose and salt solution, where infants preferentially ingest these compounds compared with a water diluent, aqueous MSG solutions were rejected relative to water. The implications of this observation for understanding the mechanisms of MSG perception and pleasantness were discussed.