Effects of pressure on the glucose-ammonium sulphite caramel solutions

Effects of pressure on glucose-ammonium sulphite solutions were investigated. The reactant (i.e. glucose), intermediate products content, and browning intensity of advanced stages were tested using an UV-Vis spectrophotometer and a high performance liquid chromatograph to gain a better understanding of the influence of pressure on the glucose-ammonium model Maillard reaction system. This study indicates that pressure could promote the first step of the reaction, i.e. condensation reaction between SO32-/ammonium and glucose, but inhibit the increase of A(294), A(420) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde content. The mechanism of inhibiting the glucose-ammonium model Maillard reaction might be that pressure increases dissociative SO32- content in solutions and inhibits the degradation of the Amadori rearrangement product. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.