L-glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in mammalian central nervous system (CNS). It interacts with membrane bound glutamate receptors.

L-Glutamic acid hydrochloride has been used as a nutrient additive to study the effect of increased dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) on the uptake of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), in a nitrogen-limited headwater forest stream.

Agonist at kainate, NMDA, and quisqualate receptors; an excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter.

L-glutamate plays key roles in development, learning, memory, plasticity and cognition. It plays crucial role in the pathogenesis of neuropathological diseases such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, stroke, ischemia, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Huntington′s disease and Parkinson′s disease. Glutamate is also responsible for the activation of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). Induction of glutamate receptors plays a key role in the pathophysiology of migraine.