Occurrence of acetic acid and formic acid in breakfast cereals

Abstract

Breakfast cereals are usually manufactured by extrusion followed by drying and toasting steps in which thermal treatments are applied. In addition, owing to the low water activity and the content in cereals of proteins and carbohydrates, precursors of the Maillard reaction, this reaction and degradation of sugars are favoured during processing. Acetic and formic acids have been identified as final products of Maillard reaction (MR) and sugar caramelisation. Acetic and formic acid contents have been determined by ion exchange high-performance liquid chromatography in 56 commercial breakfast cereals. Results were evaluated taking into account the sample formulation. Acetic and formic acids were detected in all samples, and significant variations were observed for acetic acid depending on the protein and fibre content. Acetic acid, originating from 1-deoxyglucosone cleavage during MR, proved to be a good indicator of processing in cereals enriched with or based on wheat flour because of their high protein content. Fibre addition increased acetic acid concentration. The application of acetic acid as a chemical marker of processing in breakfast cereals and its possible generation pathways are discussed.

Effects of maltose and lysine treatment on coffee aroma by flash gas chromatography electronic nose and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

“…Nevertheless, maltose could trigger to produce formic, acetate, lactic acid, propanoic acid and citric acid, and damage the ester bond of chlorogenic acid for the formation of quinic, ferulic, cinnamic, and caffeic acids after heating. [15][16][17] Moreover, our data showed that maltose directly induced a rapid and burst increase of intermediates in the reaction. However, application of Lys has demonstrated an obviously limited effect on hydroxymethylfurfural and other intermediary products (Fig.…”

“…Compared to the control, the combined treatments of maltose with Lys were obviously effective in promoting release of new volatile profiles containing aldehydes (6,33,79,88), phenols (19,32,50,54,85), furans (13,26,58), pyrazines (15,40,41,42,44,45,56, 60, 62, 67), alcohols (23), pyridine (5,30,49), alkene (17,36), pyrimidine (21), ketones (34,48,66,71,76,84), amine (39, 53, 61, 86, 87), pyrrole (46, 47, 69), imidazole (68), ethers (80) and others (37, 51, 59, 70, 72, 75, 77, 78, and 83). However, maltose-, Lys-and combined-treatment led to a decreased or not significantly (P > 0.05) increased effect on certain volatiles such as aldehydes (1,7,18,20,31,55, 64 and 74), phenols (35,73), furans (9, 57), pyrazines (10, 43), alcohols (8,12), and amines (82).…”

Effect of the Reactant Ratio on the Characteristics and Antioxidant Activities of Maillard Reaction Products in a Porcine Plasma Protein Hydrolysate-Galactose Model System

“…Rufian-Henares et al, [19] who demonstrated that the monosaccharide degradation products were 1-deoxyglucosone and 3-deoxyglucosone (compounds that were also generated from the MR),…”

Neoformation of antioxidants in glycation model systems treated under subcritical water extraction conditions

“…Nevertheless, the lowest pH value was found in the glucose control system. This phenomenon may be due to the production of formic and acetic acids from glucose, which is partly degraded to these compounds when it is heated at high pH either in the presence of protein or not (Rufian-Henares, Delgado-Andrade, & Morales, 2006).…”