Maillard reaction (MR) monitoring is important in food
processing
and new material development for protein–carbohydrate conjugates.
This work aimed to investigate the antinutrient (AN; phytic acid,
tannic acid, and saponin) and sugar type (glucose, fructose, and xylose)
effect on the bovine serum albumin (BSA) structure and thermal behavior.
Circular dichroism, fluorescence, UV–vis spectrophotometry,
and differential scanning calorimetry were used to evaluate protein
structure and MR. Results showed that all ANs impact protein’s
secondary and tertiary structure of glycated BSA. Tannic acid and
saponin decreased the absorbance of BSA and sugar mixtures, showing
their MR inhibition ability. Phytic acid presents a small impact on
the BSA structure; however, a catalytic effect on MR is observed by
the browning of the samples. Both antinutrients and BSA changed the
thermal behavior of the evaluated sugars in solid-state mixtures.
These results may help to understand the sugar type and antinutrient
role in the BSA behavior observed during heating.