Glutamic acid (flavor)
Glutamate flavoring is a generic name for flavor-enhancing compounds based on glutamic acid and its salts (glutamates). These compounds provide an umami (savory) taste to food.
Glutamic acid and glutamates are natural constituent of many fermented or aged foods, including soy sauce, fermented bean paste, and cheese, and also occur in hydrolyzed protein such as yeast extract. The sodium salt of glutamic acid, monosodium glutamate (MSG) is manufactured in a large scale and widely used in the food industry.
When glutamic acid or any of its salts is dissolved in water, it immediately forms a solution of separate negative ions called glutamates, and positive ions like H
3O+
or Na+
. There is actually a chemical equilibrium among several ionized forms, including zwitterions, that depends on the acidity (pH) of the solution. At the pH ranges normally occurring in foods, the prevailing ion can be described as −OOC-C(NH+
3)-(CH
2)2-COO−, with a net −1 electric charge.
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