Study of the Maillard reaction in model systems under conditions related to the industrial process of pasta thermal VHT treatment

Non-enzymatic browning (NEB) due to the Maillard reaction (MR) was studied in a closed starch/glucose/lysine model system (20 g kg(-1) glucose, 10 g k g(-1) lysine) in order to analyse conditions favouring reactivity during an industrial process of pasta VHT (very high temperature) thermal treatment. The closed model pastes gave data on the NEB progress during the pasta dry ing cycle as a function of temperature, time and water activity (a(w)). Ind icators such as headspace CO2, optical density and colour showed an increas e of MR as the initial a, increased from 0.50 to 0.91. During the initial s tages of drying, a combination of high temperatures and high a(w) led to th e most likely conditions for NEB. (C) 1999 Society of Chemical Industry.