Nano-engineered carbon dots from banana blossoms inhibit advanced glycation end products formation in bakery foods: A mechanistic study through multi-stage kinetic modeling

Banana blossoms, a natural and sustainable source, were successfully prepared to produce carbon dots (BB-CDs) with promising anti-glycation properties. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs), implicated in various degenerative diseases, were significantly reduced in food models fortified with the BB-CDs. Spherical in shape and measuring 2.06 nm, the BB-CDs possessed a rich surface chemistry, brimming with hydrophilic and reactive functional groups. The multi-stage kinetic analysis results revealed that BB-CDs inhibited the formation and accumulation of AGEs by reducing the conversion of reaction substrates to intermediates and intermediates into end products, while simultaneously enhancing the degradation of end products. In practical application, sponge cakes fortified with 2.5 g/100 g BB-CDs exhibited marked reductions in AGEs, including N^ε-carboxymethyllysine and N^ε-carboxyethyllysine, by over 40%, both in free and protein-bound forms. Concurrently, BB-CDs improved the moisture retention and texture of sponge cakes, softening their structure. These findings demonstrate that BB-CDs is a novel exogenous inhibitor of AGEs, which can be applied to mitigate the production of harmful substances during thermal processing of food.