Inhibition of fluorescent advanced glycation end-products by ferulic acid and chlorogenic acid: A fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular docking study

The effects of ferulic acid (FA) and chlorogenic acid (CGA) on fluorescent advanced glycation end-products (fAGEs) were investigated through the Maillard reaction. Model systems were incubated with different concentrations (0, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 μg/mL) of FA or CGA at 55 °C for 12 h, and fluorescence intensity of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) was measured. After adding 160 μg/mL FA and CGA, the fluorescence intensity of AGEs was suppressed by 15.988% ± 0.556% and 16.544% ± 0.275%, respectively ( P  < 0.05). Compared with control group, free amino groups levels were the highest in model systems containing 160 μg/mL FA (0.096 ± 0.011 mg l -leucine equivalent/mL) and CGA (0.130 ± 0.000 mg l -leucine equivalent/mL) ( P  < 0.05). Carbonyls content decreased in a dose-dependent fashion with increasing concentrations of FA and CGA ( P  < 0.05). Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) results demonstrated that FA and CGA could impede the generation of bovine serum albumin (BSA)-glucose cross-linking substances. Spectroscopy results indicated that the binding constant of BSA-CGA was higher than that of BSA-FA. Meanwhile, molecular docking results suggested that the binding affinity of CGA to BSA was greater than to FA. These results suggested that CGA had a stronger inhibitory effect on the fluorescence intensity of AGEs. Therefore, FA and CGA may be potent natural antioxidants in mitigating the accumulation of AGEs during food thermal processing.