Although monosodium glutamate is widely found in daily food, the role of glutamic acid and other amino acids in enhancing food flavor was not scientifically recognized until the early 20th century.
1907, Miyuki Ikeda, a researcher at Imperial University in Tokyo, Japan, found that seaweed soup would leave a brown crystal, namely glutamic acid, after evaporation. Then, he applied for a patent for the large-scale production method of glutamic acid crystal, and called sodium glutamate essence, which was later introduced to China and renamed as "monosodium glutamate". Soon, monosodium glutamate became popular all over the world and became an indispensable condiment for people. Later, a young man named Wu repeatedly discovered that monosodium glutamate was sodium glutamate, which was extracted from plant protein by Dr. Reed Hausen of Germany as early as 1866.
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.