Direct Assay of Monosodium Glutamatein Multi-Sourced Bouillon Cubes by First Derivative Potentiometric Titration

In this study, a simple, cheap and accurate analytical method was developed for the direct assay of monosodium glutamate (MSG). First derivative potentiometric assay was adopted in the determination of MSG content in ten brands of Bouillon cubes (coded P₁, P₂, P₃, P₄, P₅, P₆, P₇, P₈, P₉ and P₁₀) sourced from different local markets.Formic acid extract of MSG was used for the determination. The result obtained for MSG standard using this method gave 99.40% which agrees with 99.94% also obtained for the non-extracted method. Results for all the coded samples show that sample P₈ (75.14%) gave the highest value of MSG content while sample P₆ (55.96%) gave the lowest value. Though, the World Health Organization (WHO) requirement for MSG consumption per day is 0.12g, the values obtained in this study cannot be related to daily consumption because the amounts of bouillon cubes and consequently the amount of MSG used by consumers differ from one individual to another. However, the result obtained for the estimation of MSG in bouillons cubes can be adoptedby regulatory agencies such as National Agency for Food, Drugs and Administration Control (NAFDAC) and International Standard Organization (ISO).