Farha Ashique*, Kritika Pandey, Dileep Kumar & Parimal Kumar Khan
University Department of Zoology, Patna University, Patna, Bihar, India
Received : 12th January, 2025 ; Revised : 13th February, 2025
DOI:-https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16132452
Abstract– Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a umami substance, made up of nutritionally indispensable amino-acids. It is used worldwide as flavour enhancer that intensifies the savoury flavour of food, as naturally occurring glutamate does in foods such as stews and meat soups. Although it is generally recognized as being safe by food safety regulatory agencies, several studies have questioned its long-term safety. Literature showed that under normal conditions, humans can metabolize relatively large quantities of glutamate which is naturally produced in the gut in the course of protein hydrolysis by exopeptidase enzymes. The use of monosodium glutamate as a food additive however was found to be associated with adverse side-effects particularly in animals including induction of obesity, cardiotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, diabetes, neurotoxicity, low-grade inflammation, metabolic disarray, premalignant alterations along with behavioural changes. Furthermore, studies have also reported several cytotoxic and genotoxic consequences of MSG in various test systems including Allium cepa, Vicia faba, Drosophila as well as rat and human lymphocytes. These studies, however, have limited relevance for extrapolation to dietary human intake of MSG for risk assessment because of flaws in the methodology and dosing level. Hence, further intensive research with an appropriate design is required to explore the mutagenic potential of MSG, its causes and the preventive strategy for reducing the MSG-mediated genetic defects.
Keywords: Monosodium glutamate, flavor enhancer, toxicity, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity.
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