A different taste, called Umami, which is considered the fifth taste, was discovered by a Japanese professor at the beginning of the 1900. Tomato, cheese, asparagus and meat, bitter, sweet, salty and sour, except for a taste of umami, Japanese means delicious. The professor then isolated this substance from some kind of seaweed. This substance is glutamic acid. Subsequently, the sodium salt of glutamic acid was prepared to ensure that glutamic acid was easily dissolved in water. This chemical compound is mono sodium glutamate. Today, glutamate, which is obtained by fermentation from natural products such as starch, sugar cane or beet, has quickly become a flavor-enhancing food additive used throughout the world.

The amount of glutamate bound to preotein in 100 grams of beef is 2846 mg, 2382 mg in mackerel, 5583 mg in peas and 229 mg in breast milk. The human body metabolizes protein-bound glutamate taken from food and mono-sodium glutamate taken as a food additive.

Mono sodium glutamate is identified by the E621 code. E-codes identifying foods are given to food additives that have passed safety assessment tests and are approved for use by the European Union. This code confirms that food additives meet all quality criteria.

In our country, the use of mono sodium glutamate in foods is permitted in accordance with the Turkish Food Codex Regulation on Food Additives. 10 grams of mono sodium glutamate per kg of food can be used.

Mono sodium glutamate analyzes are performed by spectrophotometric method within the scope of chemical tests in authorized laboratories. This method is based on the measurement of the electromagnetic radiation waves absorbed or emitted when atoms, molecules or ions pass from one energy level to another. These analyzes comply with current standards and test methods accepted worldwide.