Unexpected browning was observed in sorbitol and amino acid system under high-temperature process and long-term storage. The effect of glycerol on the browning reaction of sorbitol-glycine model system under different heat treatment time was explored. The results confirmed that partial sorbitol was converted to glucose and fructose, which underwent a Maillard reaction with glycine to produce the melanoidins. Glycerol concentration and the heating time were positively correlated with the course of the reaction, which reflected in the increase of browning index, the rise of uncolored intermediate products and fluorescent substance accumulation. Compared with the system without glycerol, the browning index increased by about 100 times and the accumulation of uncolored intermediate products increased by 65 times with the presence of 4 mol/L glycerol. Furthermore, the content of α-dicarbonyl compounds (glyoxal, methylglyoxal and 2, 3-butanedione) in the system was changed by glycerol, which showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing with the accumulation of melanoidins, and reached a peak value of 190.6 mg/L after heating for 2 h. The glycerol-dependent browning was related to the water activity of the system at a high level (>0.80) and the migration rate of free water to immobilized water ranging from 0.60% to 8.59%. It indicated that glycerol could promote the reaction by influencing the substrate concentration, weakening the inhibition of product and promoting the conversion of sorbitol to reducing sugar.
Zhisong Wang,Shaopeng Li,Zhujun Zhang,Xianglong Zhang,Ting Xia,Yu Zheng,Menglei Xia,Min Wang
To decipher the formation mechanism of nitrogen-free substructures in melanoidins, methylglyoxal or 3-deoxyglucosone was used as a substrate to react by aldol reaction under different pH conditionst. The obtained products were characterised by chromatography, mass spectrometry, and spectroscopic methods. Overall, the molecular weights of the polymers structural units varied mainly within 54–56 and 72–74 Da, respectively, due to the different dehydration extent of β-hydroxy aldehyde or ketones, and uneven reduction by NaBH 4 . Moreover, the nitrogen-free substructures formed by this reaction can cross-link with gluten and dextran to form melanoidins. Therefore, the nitrogen-free substructures by this reaction to formed with units of 54–56 and 72–74 Da, which are similar as the typical polymers in food melanoidins. It is inferred that the typical polymers in food may also be formed by this pathway and which can be used as a detectable biomarker in melanoidins.