In food systems, perceived flavor is basednot only on individual
ingredients thatmakeup theproduct, but alsoon interactions between
these components. Browning is an important reaction in food systems,
andaffects both the flavor and the color of theproduct. One typeof
non-enzymatic browning reaction that occurs inproducts suchas
bakedgoods and soy sauce is theMaillard reaction. When reducing
sugars suchas glucoseareheated in thepresenceof a freeamino
acidor a freeaminogroup inaprotein chain, a variety of products,
including5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF), result. Tomonitor the
progress of aMaillardbrowning reaction, HPLCwithaUV-visible
detector canbeused toquantitateproducts suchasHMF.
1
In systems
containinganumber of reactionproducts, LCwithamass selective
detector (LC/MS) wouldprovidemore specific informationabout the
reactionproducts. Theapplicationof LCandLC/MS to the study of
HMFwill bepresented.
Introduction
