Physiology & behavior
-
Physiology & behavior · Aug 1998
Clinical TrialTaste dimensions of monosodium glutamate (MSG) in a food system: role of glutamate in young American subjects.
Freshly cooked chicken broth was prepared with several concentrations (0.06-0.32 M) of added NaCl. In the first study, subjects were presented with pairs of samples, each having the same concentration of NaCl (salt) but one of which contained 0.01 M monosodium glutamate (MSG). The subjects preferred the sample with added MSG when the salt levels were low to moderate. ⋯ In the last study, the concentration of sodium was held constant in the soups but the glutamate was varied by adding 0.01 M MSG to one sample and 0.01 M NaCl to the other. Subjects preferred the sample with added glutamate to the one without, at the moderate salt concentrations, demonstrating a role for glutamate alone in enhancing palatability. These studies, in sum, demonstrate that MSG increases palatability of salted soups and that both the sodium and the glutamate independently contribute to this enhancement.