Kinetics of the Maillard reaction between glucose and leucine in a simple aqueous model system

The Maillard reaction comprises a complex network of reactions that produce both flavour and colour as well as potentially harmful compounds. Control of the Maillard reaction, in order to maximise the good and minimise the undesirable reaction products, is essential for food manufacture. However, the complexity of the reaction makes optimisation difficult and one strategy, which has proved successful in the past, is the use of mathematical kinetic modelling to predict and optimise the reactions of interest. Whilst these models are necessarily specific to the food of interest, a simple aqueous model of glucose and leucine at pH 5.6 was used on this occasion to probe the underlying chemistry of the intermediates. Reactants, intermediates and precursors were monitored during thermal processing at 120 ºC and the results used to inform the construction of a chemical reaction pathway and associated kinetic scheme for further mathematical modelling