Monosodium glutamate, the scientific name is sodium glutamate. Its development has roughly three stages:
The first stage: 1866, Dr. H. Ritthasen, a German, separated amino acids from gluten. They call it glutamic acid, which is named glutamic acid or glutamic acid according to different raw materials (because gluten is extracted from wheat). From 1908 experiment of chrysanthemum seedlings in Ikeda, University of Tokyo, Japan, L- glutamic acid crystals were isolated from kelp. This crystal is the same substance as L- glutamic acid hydrolyzed by protein, and both of them are delicious.
The second stage: using gluten or soybean meal as raw materials, monosodium glutamate was produced by acid hydrolysis. 1965 was produced by this method before. The advantages of this method are high consumption, high cost, high labor intensity, high requirements for equipment and the need for acid-resistant equipment.
The third stage: with the progress of science and the development of biotechnology, the production of monosodium glutamate has undergone revolutionary changes. Since 1965, all monosodium glutamate factories in China have used grain (corn starch, rice starch, wheat starch and sweet potato starch) as raw materials, and obtained sodium glutamate which meets the national standards through microbial fermentation, extraction and refining, which has added a safe and nutritious condiment to the market and made the dishes more delicious after use.
History of China's Invention:
1925, Wu made his production technology public to prepare for selling to Europe and America. From 1926 to 1927, Wu also applied for the formula and production technology patent of "bergamot" monosodium glutamate in developed countries such as Britain, America and France, and obtained approval. This is also the first time in the history of China that China's chemical products have been patented abroad. 1926, bergamot monosodium glutamate won the gold medal at the Philadelphia World Expo. 1930 and 1933, Wu monosodium glutamate continued to win awards at the World Expo, and bergamot monosodium glutamate entered overseas markets such as Europe. Japanese "Ajisen" has also been replaced by China products in Southeast Asia.
According to the patent law of Beiyang government, Wu's monosodium glutamate patent can enjoy five years of patent protection. 1926, Wu announced that he would give up the domestic patent of monosodium glutamate, hoping to mass-produce it all over the country. Since then, more than a dozen brands of MSG have appeared all over China, and the domestic MSG market is extremely prosperous. Japan's "monosodium glutamate" is hard to see in other parts of China except the northeast of China occupied by the Japanese Kwantung Army.
1925, with the help of the massive May 30th Movement, Japanese goods were even more boycotted, and flavors that could not compete with monosodium glutamate even declined. Even overseas Chinese in Nanyang abandoned the flavor elements of Japanese goods and switched to domestic monosodium glutamate to enter the "heavenly chef". Bergamot brand monosodium glutamate not only entered the markets of Nanyang countries, but also quickly became a tight commodity in this market.