Chemical and Functional Properties of Food Saccharides

18
CONTENTS
© 2004 by CRC Press LLC
Chemistry of the
Maillard Reaction in
Foods
Tomas Davidek and Jiri Davidek
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Formation of Glycosylamines and Rearrangement to Amino
Deoxysugars
18.3 Other Reactions of Glycosylamines
18.4 Degradation of Amino Deoxysugars
18.5 Degradation of 3-Deoxy-2-Osuloses
18.6 Degradation of 1-Deoxy-2,3-Diuloses
18.7 Degradation of 1-Amino-1,4-Dideoxydiketoses
18.8 Strecker Degradation of Amino Acids
18.9 Melanoidins
18.10 Closing Remarks
References
18.1 INTRODUCTION
The term Maillard reaction is used for a complex network of reactions involving
carbonyl compounds, namely reducing sugars, and amino compounds, for example
amino acids or peptides. These reactions are also called nonenzymatic browning, as
they are accompanied by the formation of brown pigments (melanoidins). However,
other reactions, such as caramelization, can also cause nonenzymatic browning of
foods. Thus, the Maillard reaction should be considered as a special case of nonenzymatic
browning.
The reaction is named after the French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard, who
first described flavor and colour development on heating reducing sugars with amino
acids. 1 Since then, the Maillard reaction has become of fundamental interest to food
chemists and technologists, and also to scientists working in medicine and nutrition.