Kinetics of color development of melanoidins formed from fructose/amino acid model systems

The formation of soluble melanoidins from a single combination of sugar (fructose) and amino acid model systems were evaluated kinetically. The selected amino acids, commonly found in apple juice and highly reactive in the Maillard reaction, were asparagine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid. The effect of these reagents and the treatment at different temperatures (50 °C, 85 °C, and 100 °C) during 96 h on the color intensity of the melanoidin formed was measured by absorbance at different wavelengths (280, 325, 405, and 420 nm). The absorbance of the melanoidin formed from all model systems was located on the wavelength of 405 nm, that is, the area of the visible spectrum close to the UV region. The color of the melanoidins was directly measured using the CIELAB color space system. A first-order kinetic model was applied to the evolution of the ΔE* (color difference) and L* (lightness) of the color. The fructose/aspartic acid model system values of a* (redness) and b*(yellowness) were found in the brown-red zone. Therefore, the color development of the melanoidins was influenced by the type of amino acid and temperature. Especially, it is thought that the a* and b* values can be used to explain the differences among the amino acids in the color development of melanoidins. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.