monosodium glutamate

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monosodium glutamate (MSG) The sodium salt of glutamic acid, used to enhance the flavour of savoury dishes and often added to canned meat and soups. First isolated from seaweed by Tokyo chemist Kimunae Ikeda in 1908; he called it ajinomoto, meaning ‘the essence of taste’. First manufactured in the USA in 1934; before then it was imported from Japan. See also flavour enhancers; umami.

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