Umami (/uˈmɑːmi/), a savory taste, is one of the five basic tastes (together with sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness).
A loanword from the Japanese (うま味), umami can be translated as "pleasant savory taste". This particular writing was chosen by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda from umai (うまい) "delicious" and mi (味) "taste". The kanji 旨味, also read "umami", are used for a more general sense of a food as delicious.