Impact of phenolic compounds in strecker aldehyde formation in wine model systems: target and untargeted analysis

The Strecker degradation of phenylalanine has been studied in a phenolic compound/phenylalanine wine model system. Six phenolic compounds (3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, gallic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, catechin, and epicatechin) were compared in the formation of phenylacetaldehyde when in the presence of glucose or methylglyoxal (MG). The addition of glucose reduced the formation of Strecker aldehyde, independently of the phenolic compound. The addition of MG, on the other hand, increased phenylacetaldehyde formation for hydroxybenzoic acids and decreased phenylacetaldehyde formation for flavan-3-ols, confirming their capacity to trap the dicarbonyl compound. As a target phenolic compound, catechin was chosen to perform kinetic studies to further understand the reaction intermediates involved in the mechanism of phenylacetaldehyde formation, in particular, catechin o-quinone and catechin–MG adduct. The addition of glucose and MG increased the consumption of catechin, while a reduction in the respective o-quinone was observed, suggesting that these substrates have an impact in other reactions involving catechin. In that regard, for the first time, it was demonstrated that the catechin–MG adduct was capable of oxidizing and forming a new o-quinone, contributing to wine instability promoted by oxidation reactions.