Dehydroascorbic Acid Mediated Crosslinkage of Proteins Using Maillard Chemistry - Relevance to Food Processing

Dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) is the first stable oxidation product of ascorbic acid and can participate in redox reactions such as the oxidative crosslinking of proteins through disulfide bonds. Emphasis on the redox chemistry of ascorbic acid and DHA has led to its Maillard type chemistry being somewhat over-shadowed. Model studies of DHA with both amino acids and proteins have demonstrated that dehydroascorbic acid is particularly susceptible to Maillard reactions and can crosslink proteins by mechanisms that do not involve disulfide bonding This may partly explain the improver action of ascorbic acid in flour-based products.