L-Glutamic Acid

L-Glutamic acid is the free acid form of the most abundant dicarboxylic amino acid in food protein: (S)-2-aminopentanedioic acid, CAS 56-86-0, C5H9NO4, molecular weight 147.13. Thovek supplies it as a white, free-flowing crystalline powder made by submerged aerobic fermentation of a carbohydrate substrate with Corynebacterium glutamicum, the route that displaced protein hydrolysis in the 1950s, followed by concentration, crystallisation, milling and drying. Because the molecule is assembled by a micro-organism from sugar rather than liberated from wheat gluten or soy protein, the finished acid carries no gluten or soy allergen burden from its starting material, which is the single point most food and supplement buyers ask us to confirm in writing. Standard material is released to the USP and FCC monographs at 98.5-101.5% on the dried basis with a specific rotation of +31.5 to +32.5 degrees, loss on drying not more than 0.1% after three hours at 105 C and residue on ignition not more than 0.1%; Ph. Eur./BP material is released at 98.5-100.5% with rotation +30.5 to +32.5 degrees and sulphated ash not more than 0.1%. Chloride and sulphate are each held at not more than 0.02% and iron at not more than 10 ppm. The free acid is only sparingly soluble in water, 8.57 g/L at 25 C, and dissolves readily in dilute acid or alkali; formulators who need cold-water solubility at neutral pH normally specify the sodium salt instead. It decomposes at about 199 C rather than melting cleanly, so it is stable through ordinary drying and blending but should not be exposed to prolonged high-temperature processing. Commercially the material sits in two quite different baskets. In food it is the acid form of the flavour enhancer numbered 620 in the INS and E systems, used where a savoury, umami-building acid is wanted without adding sodium. In nutrition and biotechnology it is a bulk amino acid for free-form amino acid blends, clinical and enteral nutrition premixes, pet food palatants and non-animal-origin cell culture media. Thovek ships against a batch certificate of analysis with identity, assay, rotation, moisture, ash, heavy metals and microbiology, together with an allergen and origin declaration, a non-animal-origin statement and the GMO status of the production strain. We describe composition and established food-technology and nutrient function only, and make no therapeutic claim.