Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Glutamic acid was isolated by Ritthausen.

In 1098 Ikeda found that MSG is the beneficial active component of the algae Lamniria japonica, used for a long time in Japan as a flavor improver of soup and similarly prepared soup.

The taste of MSG cannot be explained by a combination of sweet, salty, sour and bitter tastes.

It is, as the fifth quality, of an elementary nature. This assumption, which was made as early as 1908 by a Japanese researcher to explain the special taste called umami, was recently confirmed by the identification of a taste receptor for MSG.

Indeed MSG is one of the most important taste-bearing substances in meat and ripened for longer periods of time.

Reports by Japanese researchers that glutamyl peptides, e.g., Glu-Glu, also taste like MSG have not been confirmed.

The taste of MSG is intensified by certain nucleotides. Glutamate promotes sensory perception particularly of meat like aroma notes, and is frequently used as an additive in frozen, dehydrated or canned fish and meat products.

MSG is added in the concentration range of 0.2 – 0.8%.

The intake of larger amount of MSG by some hypersensitivity persons can trigger a “Chinese restaurant syndrome”, which is characterized by temporary disorders such as drowsiness, headache, and stomach ache and stiffening of joints. These disappear after a short time.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

Garlic Oil

Garlic Oil
The essential oil of garlic can be recovered by steam distillation of the freshly crushed cloves, the yielding being 0.1 to 0.2%.

Garlic oil is a powerful flavoring agent and is widely used in seasonings either as a liquid flavor or dispersed as a dry-carrier.

Many problems arise when fresh garlic is included in a food product.

The commercially-available vegetable occurs as a compound bulb made up of 10 to 14 small “cloves” encased in a tough outer skin.

The bulb must first be cleaned and sorted, the outer tissues removed and the cloves separated. The garlic is then ready for mincing, cutting or crushing.

The whole process is tedious and the manufacturing department becomes permeated with the smell.

This can give rise to the problem of cross-contamination unless great care is taken.

Like all other natural products, the flavoring effect of fresh garlic is variable whereas that of garlic oil is relatively consistent.

It is not surprising, therefore, that garlic oil is now widely used in place of the fresh vegetable.

To overcome the objectionable odor associated with both fresh garlic and garlic oil, the use of an encapsulated garlic oil is strongly recommended.

This dry powder is almost free of odor and does not release its contents until the capsule is broken down by admixture with water.
Garlic Oil