Relationship between “Food Groups” in Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan and “Food Taste” of Traditional Chinese Nutrition

In Japan, the concept of “food groups” organized according to similarity, such as “culinary plants” or “meats”, is widely used for food education and diet therapy in the field of nutrition science. In the field of traditional Chinese nutrition, on the other hand, “Shoku-mi”, i.e. the taste of the food itself (Sour, Bitter, Sweet, Hot, and Salty), has some merit, and on this basis foods are classified into several categories. This concept is derived from “Gogyo-ron”, the Chinese traditional theory of five elements in yin-yang, and these five elements are associated with both body organs and “Shoku-mi”. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationships between food groups and Shoku-mi, as this has never been previously investigated. From among 379 foods described in the Shoku-mi table edited by the Japan Society of Food Science in Chinese Medicine, 291 were classified on the basis of food groups described in the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan edited by the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology, and the relationships between food groups and Shoku-mi were analyzed using Fisher’s Exact test. It was found that half of the foods analyzed showed “Sweet”. Some statistically significant relationships were found. Those fell into the categories of “Sweet” and “Sugar and Sweeteners”, “Sweet and Sour” and “Fruits”, and “Salty” and “Algae”. This information can be utilized in the field of health promotion using foods.