Studies on the non-enzymatic browning of foods products: Sugar-organic acid model systems.

The subject of non-enzymatic browning in
food products has received considerable attention
from various workers but still the mechanisms
involved are not completely understood. Earlier
studies had centred round Maillard type reactions
but in recent years the importance of sugarorganic
acid complexes is also being increasingly
emphasized. Using ion exchange resins and
studying browning in different fractions of apricot
concentrate, Haas and Stadtman1 showed that,
besides the reaction involving nitrogenous constituents,
those between sugars and organic acids
and those involving only organic acids were also
important. Not only the hydrogen ion concentration
but also the nature of the anion was found
to be an important factor. Work carried out by
Lewis et al.2 and Livingston et al.3' 4, 8 has further
emphasized the importance of sugar-organic acid
systems in the browning reaction.
In the present investigation, browning in
organic acid-sugar model systems has been studied
in detail. Four sugars (glucose, galactose, fructose
and sucrose) and ten organic acids (acetic,
propionic, oxalic, malonic, succinic, malic, tartaric
citric, lactic and pyruvic) have been taken.