E621 Is Monosodium Glutamate - Useful Or Harmful?
Author: Marko Balašević
Time for reading: ~2
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
E621, monosodium glutamate is a harmless food supplement that gives the minds a specific taste and energy for the intestinal microbiome.
Monosodium glutamate, also known as the food additive E621 , is a popular flavoring in modern foods. It is used to add or enhance a specific taste called umami - one of the five main flavors, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Umami compares to the taste of meat broth and excites glutamate -specific taste receptors .
In food, E621 represents 0.1% to 0.8% of the total content, which corresponds to its natural presence in many other foods.
Monosodium glutamate is a salt of glutamic acid - one of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins. It is also a replaceable amino acid that can be synthesized by the human body. In food, as well as in human tissues, acid can exist in two forms: " bound " when other amino acids or proteins are attached to it, and " free " when it exists in monomolecular form. Only free glutamate plays a role in taste perceptions.
Ingestion of glutamate is a major source of energy for the intestinal microbiome - the millions of microorganisms living in the intestinal tract and helping to break down food intake. Bacteria from the microbiome eat a huge amount of the substance - only 4% of it passes through the intestinal tract and is excreted in the blood. Thus, even when taking glutamate, the body needs to constantly synthesize it for its metabolic needs.
Whether bound, free or added, glutamate in food is always metabolized to free glutamate for energy. In the body, it serves as a substrate for the production of many proteins, nitrogen transport , glutamine biosynthesis and more.
E621 is found naturally in bound form in meats, fish, vegetables, and grains, and in free form is found in tomatoes, milk, potatoes, soy sauce, and many cheeses.
In Eastern cuisine, especially Chinese and Korean, the umami-rich taste comes mainly from soy sauces. In European cuisines, such as Italian, the same taste is determined by the available tomatoes, tomato sauces and cheese.
Mass production of the supplement began in 1909, by hydrolysis of natural soy proteins. Nowadays, it is produced mainly by bacterial fermentation, using the bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicus and sugar, molasses or starch as a fermentation substrate. After purification, crystallization and drying, the additive is ready for use in white, powder form.
Although there are many hypotheses that monosodium glutamate causes headaches and asthma attacks , there is no real scientific evidence to support this claim. Often, the supplement is blamed for these symptoms when testers consume exotic foods without knowing they are allergic to certain seafood.
Globally, there are over 80 independent and clinical studies over the last 50 years that confirm the safety of the supplement. No toxic effects in humans have been observed with normal use . The lethal dose is assumed to be between 15 and 18 grams per kilogram of body weight - three times the lethal dose of salt. Even increased amounts are rapidly broken down by the body. Cautious nutritionists advise not to eat foods with added monosodium glutamate more than 2-3 times a week, and to avoid taking them in children under 10 years of age.
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