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# glutamate

«glutamate» in Mova's school dictionary: **A natural substance found in many foods such as tomatoes…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (glutamate, glutamates)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (science) A natural substance found in many foods such as tomatoes, cheese and mushrooms; it gives the savoury taste called umami. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/glutamate/#m1)

2) Monosodium glutamate (MSG), a salt of it added to food to make it taste more savoury. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/glutamate/#m2)

3) (biology) A chemical messenger that nerve cells in the brain use to pass signals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/glutamate/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

Comes up in science lessons about taste (the five tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami) and on food labels. Phrases: monosodium glutamate, MSG, flavour enhancer.

### examples

- Parmesan cheese is rich in natural glutamate. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/glutamate/#x1)
- Monosodium glutamate is often written as MSG on packets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/glutamate/#x2)
- Glutamate gives food the savoury taste called umami. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/glutamate/#x3)
- Ripe tomatoes contain more glutamate than green ones. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/glutamate/#x4)
- Some crisps have glutamate added as a flavour enhancer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/glutamate/#x5)
- Your brain uses glutamate to send messages between nerve cells. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/glutamate/#x6)

### note

Say GLOO-ta-mate. Countable in science (glutamates) but usually uncountable for food. Myth: many people think MSG is harmful; scientific reviews have found it safe for most people in normal amounts. Related: glutamic acid.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «glutamate» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/glutamate/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.