Effect of Chitosan Incorporation on the Development of Acrylamide during Maillard Reaction in Fructose-Asparagine Model Solution and the Functional Characteristics of the Resultants.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of 0.5% chitosan incorporation on acrylamide development in a food model solution containing 0.5% fructose and asparagine after heating for 30 min at 180 °C. All the solutions were investigated for the following characteristics: acrylamide, asparagine, reducing sugar content, color, kinematic viscosity, Maillard reaction products (MRPs), and pH every 10 min. After heating for 10 min, the viscosity of chitosan-containing solutions reduced significantly. The investigational data confirmed that chitosan may have decomposed into lower molecular structures, as demonstrated by the reduced viscosity of the solution at pH < 6 and a decrease in the acrylamide content during 30 min of heating in a fructose-asparagine system. This study also confirms that the formation of ultraviolet-absorbing intermediates and browning intensity of MRPs containing acrylamide prepared by fructose-asparagine was more than those of MRPs prepared by glucose-asparagine solution system. MRPs containing acrylamide resulted from the reaction of asparagine with fructose (ketose) rather than glucose (aldose). Acrylamide formation could be significantly mitigated in the fructose-asparagine-chitosan model system as compared to the fructose-asparagine model system for possible beverage and food application.