Editing Monosodium glutamate (section)

=={{anchor|Usage}}Use==
Pure MSG is reported not to have a highly pleasant taste until it is combined with a savory [[aroma]].<ref name=Rolls09>{{cite journal |last=Rolls |first=Edmund T. |author-link=Edmund Rolls |title=Functional neuroimaging of umami taste: what makes umami pleasant? |journal=The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition |volume=90 |issue=3 |pages=804S–13S |date=September 2009 |pmid=19571217 |doi=10.3945/ajcn.2009.27462R |doi-access=free }}</ref> The basic sensory function of MSG is attributed to its ability to enhance savory taste-active compounds when added in the proper concentration.<ref name="Loliger" /> The optimal concentration varies by food; in [[clear soup]], the "pleasure score" rapidly falls with the addition of more than one gram of MSG per 100{{Nbsp}}mL.<ref name="Umami">{{cite book|title=Umami: a basic taste|veditors=Kawamura Y, Kare MR |publisher=Marcel Dekker Inc.| location=New York, NY|year=1987}}</ref>

The sodium content (in [[mass percent]]) of MSG, 12.28%, is about one-third of that in [[sodium chloride]] (39.34%), due to the greater mass of the glutamate counterion.<ref name="Yamaguchi06">{{cite journal |author =Yamaguchi, Shizuko |author2=Takahashi, Chikahito |title=Interactions of monosodium glutamate and sodium chloride on saltiness and palatability of a clear soup |journal=[[Journal of Food Science]]|volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=82–85|date=January 1984|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2621.1984.tb13675.x }}</ref> Although other salts of glutamate have been used in low-salt soups, they are less palatable than MSG.<ref name="Ball02">{{cite journal |vauthors=Ball P, Woodward D, Beard T, Shoobridge A, Ferrier M |title=Calcium diglutamate improves taste characteristics of lower-salt soup|journal= Eur J Clin Nutr|volume=56 |issue=6 |pages=519–23|date=June 2002 |pmid=12032651|doi=10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601343 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Food scientist]] Steve Witherly noted in 2017 that MSG may promote healthy eating by enhancing the flavor of food such as [[kale]] while reducing the use of [[salt]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/cooking-with-msg-supersalt-2017-2|title=Everyone should cook with MSG, says food scientist|last=Lubin|first=Gus|website=Business Insider|date=2 February 2017|access-date=27 January 2019}}</ref>

The [[ribonucleotide]] food additives [[disodium inosinate]] (E631) and [[disodium guanylate]] (E627), as well as conventional salt, are usually used with monosodium glutamate-containing ingredients as they seem to have a synergistic effect. "Super salt" is a mixture of 9 parts salt, to one part MSG and 0.1 parts [[disodium ribonucleotides]] (a mixture of [[disodium inosinate]] and [[disodium guanylate]]).<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.businessinsider.com/cooking-with-msg-supersalt-2017-2?r=US&IR=T | title=Everyone should cook with MSG, says food scientist| website=[[Business Insider]]}}</ref>