APPLICATION OF THE IMPEDANCE METHOD FOR DETERMINATION OF MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE IN FOOD PRODUCTS

Abstract

The article presents the results of studying how impedance analysis can be used for determination of monosodium glutamate in order to identify food fraud. We have suggested that the parameters of complex conductivity (admittance) of a two-terminal circuit could allow detecting monosodium glutamate (E 621), an additive used in the food industry to enrich the taste. The method involves passing current of different frequencies through solid foodstuffs and a cell with liquid foodstuffs, measuring the electrical conductivity, and determining and analysing the frequency dependence of admittance. The active G component and the reactive B component of the admittance have been measured at different frequencies, from 100 Hz to 100 kHz. For the experiment, food samples were prepared in accordance with the Codex Alimentarius recommendations for the dosage of the food additive E 621: orange juice with monosodium glutamate added in the amount of 0.3%, and mashed potatoes with glutamate added in the amount of 1%, of the total weight of the products. The temperature of the tested products was 22 ± 0.2°С. The results of the studies have shown the dependences of the admittance components on the frequency for the control samples of juice and mashed potatoes and for the samples with monosodium glutamate added. The dependence of the active component and the reactive component of the foodstuff admittance have been established, with monosodium glutamate (added in the above-specified proportion) and without it. The difference is in how the dependences change in their nature. The monosodium glutamate curves both in juice and in mashed potatoes are similar. The samples containing monosodium glutamate have far higher values of the active and reactive admittance component than the control samples do, with a distinct peak of the reactive component characteristic. Therefore, impedance analysis is a possible method to detect quickly the flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate in foods of different consistency and thus identify food fraud.