Simplified Kinetic Scheme of Flavor Formation by the Maillard Reaction

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The simplified kinetic scheme presented categorizes the volatile compounds into 4 classes: pyrroles and other nitrogen‐containing heterocyclic compounds (PY), furans and other oxygen‐containing heterocyclic compounds (FU), carbonyls (C), and pyrazines (PZ). The scheme comprises 11 reaction steps. The order of magnitude of the reaction rate for some of these steps could be determined from literature sources. Using these rates, the scheme was able to correlate the pseudo‐zero‐order rate of generation of FU and PZ (from the literature) to the initial temperature and concentration of reactants. It also reproduces the kinetics of volatile formation in a model glucose‐alanine system in a glycerol matrix, as measured for 4 temperatures by GC‐MS.