Food additive: Monosodium glutamate

MSG, which is the sodium salt of L‐glutamic acid (or L‐glutamate – dissociated form), is the most well‐known food additive used in foods.

Monosodium glutamate is used in the food industry as a flavor enhancer with an umami taste that intensifies the meaty, savory flavor of food, as naturally occurring glutamate does in foods such as stews and meat soups.

It produces a flavor that cannot be provided by other foods. It elicits a taste described in Japanese as umami, which is translated to "savory". ‘Umami’ is used by the Japanese to describe the taste of monosodium glutamate as well as the meaty taste of certain fish and broth.

Umami is considered as one of the five main tastes which enhancing food palatability. monosodium glutamate consumption has increased throughout the world in recent years as flavoring in cooking.

It is suggested that food palatability increases with appropriate concentrations of monosodium glutamate. The basic sensory function of monosodium glutamate is attributed to its ability to enhance the presence of other taste-active compounds.

What is glutamate? Glutamate is an amino acid that is naturally abundant in both plant and animal proteins. Protein-rich foods contain sizeable amounts of glutamate as part of the protein. In addition, many foods also contain small amounts of “free” glutamate, usually in the form of sodium glutamate.
Food additive: Monosodium glutamate

Flavor Enhancers

Flavor Enhancers
Flavorings either a particular flavor to foods or modify flavors already present. Flavor enhancers intensify flavors already present, especially when the desirable flavors are relatively weak. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is one of the best known and most widely used flavor enhancers. This compound occurs naturally in many foods and in certain seaweed that was used for centuries as a flavor enhancer for soups and other foods.

It is only within the last hundred years that the reason for the effectiveness of the seaweed was discovered to be MSG. The way in which MSG enhances flavor is not yet fully understood. While it is effective at relatively low levels (part per thousands), there are other compounds called flavor potentiators that also enhance flavors but are extremely powerful, effective in parts per million and even per billion. These compounds have been identified as nucleotides, and their effect is attributed to their synergies properties (properties that intensify that effect of natural flavor components).
Flavor Enhancers