Study of Maillard Reaction Inhibitors for the Sugar Cane Processing

Maillard Reaction (MR) is a complicated non-enzymatic browning which can happen in many kinds of food, processed products such as breweries, dairy products and sugar products. Studies have done in order to remove the Maillard reaction products, to decolorize colored compounds or to treat wastewater from sugar cane factory. For this reason, this research was performed to study and identify MR inhibitors during sugar cane processing using model systems with different concentrations of amino acids and glucose, 0.09 mol L-1 for asparagine (Asn); 0.08 mol L-1 for glutamine (Gln) and 0.2 mol L-1 for glucose (Glc), which were heated at 85-90°C for two hours, based on physicochemical analyses and assays. The influence of the physical factors such as temperature, pH or water activity (a□) were investigated as well as chemical agents such as Ascorbic Acid (AA), Cysteine (Cys), Nicotinic Acid (NA), NaCl and vitamin B6 at different concentrations (0.05, 0.1 and 0.15%), respectively. According to the results, AA 0.05%, NA 0.05% and Cys 0.1% have significantly reduced the browning effect, soluble matter (°Bx) and improved the pH compare with the untreated samples. These findings open new possibilities for strategies in the study and control of MR.