Selected Maillard reaction inhibitors, including aminoguanidine, cysteine, pyridoxamine, and sodium bisulfite, were evaluated for their effect on the production of carbohydrate conjugated proteins with less cross-linking/browning. Patatin (PTT), a major potato protein, was glycated with galactose, xylose, galactooligosaccharides, xylooligosaccharides, galactan, and xylan under controlled conditions. The effectiveness of the inhibitors to control the glycation reaction was assessed by monitoring the glycation extent, the protein cross-linking, and the formation of dicarbonyl compounds. Sodium bisulfite was the most effective inhibitor for PTT-galactose and PTT-xylan reaction systems (reaction control ratios of 210.0 and 12.8). On the other hand, aminoguanidine and cysteine led to the highest reaction control ratios for the PTT-xylose/xylooligosaccharide (160.0 and 143.0) and PTT-galactooligosaccharides/galactan (663.0 and 71.0) reaction systems, respectively. The use of cysteine and aminoguanidine as inhibitors led to 1.7-99.4% decreases in the particle size distribution of the PTT conjugates and to 0.4-9.3% increases in their relative digestibility, per 5% blocked lysine.
Keywords: Maillard reaction inhibitors; aminoguanidine; cysteine; pyridoxamine; sodium bisulfite.