Maillard reaction of milk proteins

Summary

The Maillard reaction involves proteins and saccharides, making it a highly relevant reaction for the food industry. This industry is highly interested in milk proteins involved in the Maillard reaction, due to their ubiquitous presence in many foods. Milk proteins were reacted with various saccharides and their Maillard glycation and aggregation reactivity was compared. Different glycation levels were found for different proteins reacted with the same saccharide, and this was linked to the number of modification sites per protein molecule. Glycation plateau levels were saccharide dependent and were not caused by insufficient levels of saccharide or variations in modification site preference. Saccharide degradation into organic acids or reactive species that drive protein aggregation does play a role in reaction equilibrium and limited glycation. Lastly, the presence of saccharides led to all proteins reaching a similar aggregation extent, although the relative proportion of covalent and non-covalent protein aggregates differed.