High Pressure Effect on Maillard Reaction

Reaction velocities of two reactions of the Maillard reaction, the condensation reaction of amino compounds with carbonyl compounds and the successive browning reaction along with melanoidin formation, were measured under 50–500 MPa at 50°C. The condensation reactions of glyceraldehyde with di- or tri-peptides were little affected by the applied hydrostatic pressure, and the reactions of glyceraldehyde, glycolaldehyde, or xylose with amino acids were suppressed very weakly by the pressure. On the contrary, the browning reactions were significantly suppressed by the pressure at 50–200 MPa with the activation volume of 13–27 ml/mol. These results indicate that the high pressure suppresses the browning process rather than the initial condensation process in the total course of the Maillard reaction.