Determination of Monosodium-L-Glutamate in Chilled Ready Meals by Modified-High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method

Abstract

Nowadays, most city families choose chilled ready meals instead of
cooking their own meals because it is more convenient. Monosodiuml
glutamate (MSG) is a popular food additive used for enhancing the taste
of foods. MSG should not be consumed more than 5 g/day because it can
increase risk of metabolic syndrome such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus,
dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular disease. However, nutrition label on ready
meals does not show the amount of MSG. Therefore, this research was to
determine the amount of MSG in chilled ready meals by modifiedHPLC
with UV detection at 210 nm. The method was derivatization of MSG by
dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB), using eclipse C18 column, mobile phase
compose of methanol:water (50:50), flow rate 0.6 ml/min with run time
10 min. The results showed that the content of MSG in 27 samples separated
in three groups including fried rice dishes (n=6), a la cart (n=15), spaghettis/
noodle dishes (n=6), were 1.4±2.0 g. (0.017.33 g) per serving size. The amount
of MSG found in the samples were not too high. However, if people
consume chilled food from convenience store more than two times a day,
they will receive 1,605 mg of sodium per day and 12 g of sugar per day which
is beyond the amount recommended by the Department of Health, Ministry
of Public Health. Therefore, cooking meal by ourselves with freshly prepared
ingredients is the best way to decrease MSG, sodium and sugar exposure.