The Maillard reaction is a non-enzymatic chemical reaction between the carbonyl group of a reducing sugar and the amino group of an amino acid, peptide, or protein, initiated on heating and responsible for much of the browning, flavor, and aroma development in cooked foods. It proceeds through a complex sequence beg…
The Maillard reaction is a non-enzymatic chemical reaction between the carbonyl group of a reducing sugar and the amino group of an amino acid, peptide, or protein, initiated on heating and responsible for much of the browning, flavor, and aroma development in cooked foods. It proceeds through a complex sequence beginning with condensation to form glycosylamines and Amadori rearrangement products, advancing through fragmentation, dehydration, and the generation of reactive dicarbonyl intermediates such as methylglyoxal, and culminating in the formation of brown, nitrogen-containing polymers known as melanoidins. Intermediate compounds, including hydroxymethylfurfural, accumulate during thermal processing and serve as chemical indicators of the reaction's extent, while some end products contribute antioxidant capacity and others are scrutinized as potentially harmful. The same chemistry occurs in vivo through the slower glycation of proteins, where dicarbonyl-driven cross-linking generates advanced glycation end products implicated in aging and metabolic disease, and where reactive intermediates can promote oxidative stress through radical-generating reactions. The reaction therefore links food chemistry, nutrition, and pathophysiology, its outcome governed by temperature, time, pH, water activity, and reactant composition. Research addresses the formation of reactive intermediates and end products, their antioxidant and pro-oxidant effects, the chemistry of glycation cross-linking, and the influence of processing on food composition.
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