An Amadori rearrangement product (ARP) derived from ribose (Rib) and glutathione (GSH) was prepared and identified as N-(1-deoxy-d-ribulos-1-yl)-glutathione by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and NMR. Thermal treatment of the ARP aqueous solution was conducted, and a relatively high temperature was found to accelerate the degradation of the ARP. The concentration of furans formed at 120 °C was more than 6.39 times that at 100 °C, and especially, the high temperature favored the formation of furfural and 4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3(2H)-furanone through deoxyosone dehydration. The promoting role of extra-added GSH or its constituent amino acids was investigated in the volatile formation during thermal processing of the ARP. Both, the added GSH and its constituent amino acids, could timely capture glyoxal (GO) and methylglyoxal (MGO) to facilitate Strecker degradation, which improved pyrazine formation. Compared with glycine and glutamic acid, cysteine was the most effective extra-added amino acid to react with GO and MGO to produce pyrazine and methylpyrazine. More importantly, the cysteine degraded from extra-added GSH effectively accelerated the generation of sulfur-containing volatile compounds through the reaction of cysteine degradation products with furans and shorter-chain α-dicarbonyl compounds.
Keywords: Amadori rearrangement product; cysteine; furans; glutathione; pyrazines; sulfur-containing volatile compounds.