Effects of olive, canola, and sunflower oils on the formation of volatiles from the Maillard reaction of lysine with xylose and glucose

Some important edible oils (extra virgin olive oil, canola oil, and sunflower oil) were added to aqueous glucose-lysine or xylose-lysine model systems to investigate their effect on the formation of volatiles from the Maillard reaction (MR). The volatile compounds were extracted by a Likens-Nickerson apparatus and quantified. Pyrazines, Maillard reaction products with an important impact on food flavor, appeared to be particularly sensitive to the presence of the oils in both the xylose-lysine and glucose-lysine model systems. The unsubstituted pyrazine was formed more with olive oil, less with canola oil, and even less with sunflower oil, whereas 2-methylpyrazine, 2,5-methylpyrazine, and 2,3-dimethylpyrazine were formed less with olive oil, more with canola oil, and even more with sunflower. The oxidative states of the oils and their fatty acid fingerprints were determined: the results indicated that the relative amounts of the pyrazines are sensitive to the degree of unsaturation of the oil. The autoxidation of the volatile compounds generated from the MR, investigated by the addition of free radical modulators (antioxidants alpha -tocopherol, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol, and rosemary extract; or pro-oxidant alpha-alpha'-azobis-isobutyronitrile, a free radical initiator), was limited in respect to aqueous model systems.