Chemometric analysis illuminates the relationship among browning, polyphenol degradation, Maillard reaction and flavor variation of 5 jujube fruits during air-impingement jet drying

Wenfeng Li; Chan Liang; Fangtian Bao; Tingting Zhang; Yanru Cheng; Wanjie Zhang; Yalong Lu

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101425

Chemometric analysis illuminates the relationship among browning, polyphenol degradation, Maillard reaction and flavor variation of 5 jujube fruits during air-impingement jet drying

Food Chem X. 2024 Apr 28:22:101425. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101425. eCollection 2024 Jun 30.

Authors

Wenfeng Li¹, Chan Liang¹, Fangtian Bao¹, Tingting Zhang², Yanru Cheng³, Wanjie Zhang⁴, Yalong Lu²

Affiliations

¹ School of Life Science and Biotechnology, Yangtze Normal University, Chongqing 408100, China.
² College of Food Engineering and Nutritional Science, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, China.
³ Jia Country Jujube Industry Development Center, Shaanxi 719200, China.
⁴ Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China.

Abstract

This study was designed to reveal the relationship among browning, polyphenol degradation, Maillard reaction (MR) and flavor variation in jujube fruit (JF) during air-impingement jet drying (AIJD). Five kinds of JFs were dried by AIJD at 60 °C and vacuum freeze drying. Colorimeter and chemometric analysis found that AIJD induced color changes of JF pulp and peel. AIJD also reduced the total polyphenols content and total flavonoids levels in JF. The Fe³⁺ reducing capacity and 2,2'-Azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) cationic radical scavenging capacity of JF were reduced by 31.6% and 8.2%, respectively. Seven polyphenols were identified in JF, and epicatechin was found related to change of JF pulp color by sparse partial least square (sPLS). sPLS revealed that 3-deoxy glucosone, N-ε-carboxymethyl-l-lysine and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural associated with JF color. sPLS found that MR generated 3-methyl-butanoic acid and cyclobutanone during AIJD of JF. Chemometrics is an effective tool to disclose mechanism of color changes in food.

Keywords: Color; Maillard reaction; Polyphenol; Sparse partial least square; Ziziphus Jujuba.