Changes in antioxidant activity of dehydrated onion and garlic during storage

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2006.03.012Get rights and content

Abstract

The effect of the Maillard reaction evolution on the overall antioxidant activity (AA) of stored dehydrated onion and garlic has been studied. Extent of the reaction was followed through the determination of the Amadori compounds, measured as 2-furoylmethyl-amino acids (2-FM-AA), and colour development whereas AA was evaluated by the ORACFL assay. Dehydrated garlic exhibited a very slow progress of the Maillard reaction which did not lead to any noticeable change in its AA upon storage. However, a substantial increase of AA was observed in dehydrated onion samples, in agreement with a major Maillard reaction evolution. Moreover, a positive correlation between colour and antioxidant properties was observed during the storage of dehydrated onion at 50 °C, suggesting the predominant role of the advanced stages of the Maillard reaction over the AA. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that, although the Amadori compounds might exert a moderate effect on the AA, the advanced Maillard reaction products are the major contributors to this property.

Introduction

Onion (Allium cepa L.) and garlic (Allium sativum L.) are two vegetables widely consumed due to their flavouring and health-promoting properties. It has been reported that onion, garlic and their extracts can be potent cardiovascular and anticancer agents with hypocholesterolemic, thrombolitic and antioxidant effects (Block, 1985, Block et al., 1997, Dillon et al., 2003, Ichikawa et al., 2003, Nuutila et al., 2003, Rhaman and Billington, 2000, Stavric, 1997). Several antioxidant compounds, mainly polyphenols such as flavonoids and sulfur-containing compounds, have been described in onion and garlic (Banerjee et al., 2002, Block et al., 1997, Gorinstein et al., 2005, Horie et al., 1992, Kourounakis and Rekka, 1991, Ly et al., 2005, Nuutila et al., 2003, Prasad et al., 1995, Suh et al., 1999, Yamasaki et al., 1994).

Maillard reaction that occur between reducing sugars and proteins, peptides or amino acids during the processing and/or storage of foods, can also give rise to different products with antioxidant activity (AA) (Del Castillo et al., 2002, Delgado-Andrade et al., 2005, Farag et al., 1982, Friedman, 1996, Nicoli et al., 1997, Somoza, 2005). Ide et al., 1999, Ryu et al., 2001 demonstrated the antioxidant role of the Amadori rearrangement product fructosyl arginine, originated during the first steps of the Maillard reaction, in a concentrated aged garlic extract obtained by storage at room temperature for longer than 10 months. These authors described fructosyl arginine as a hydrogen peroxide scavenger comparable to vitamin C. According to the data published by Ou, Hampsch-Woodill, and Prior (2001), vitamin C is a weaker scavenger of peroxyl radical as compared to trolox and other natural antioxidant compounds such as caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, quercetrin, genistein, rutin, quercetin and catechin. Recently, Cardelle-Cobas, Moreno, Corzo, Olano, and Villamiel (2005) have reported the presence of several Amadori compounds, measured as 2-FM-AA, in commercial dehydrated onion and garlic samples. However, no evaluation of its effect on the overall AA of the samples was performed.

In the present paper, Maillard reaction development was promoted in freshly dehydrated onion and garlic samples to give rise to Amadori compounds and advanced products to assess their effect on the AA.

Section snippets

Chemicals and reagents

Glucose, lysine (Lys), arginine (Arg) and 2,2′-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) were purchased from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA). (±)-6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchromane (Trolox) and fluorescein sodium were obtained from Fluka Chemie (Buchs, Switzerland). Sodium chloride was purchased from Panreac (Barcelona, Spain). Sodium dihydrogen orthophosphate dihydrate and disodium hydrogen orthophosphate (anhydrous) were obtained from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). High purity water was

Extent of the Maillard reaction

Fig. 1 shows the evolution of the 2-FM-AA in freshly dehydrated onion (A) and garlic (B) stored at 50 °C, 0.44aw for 14 days. No presence of 2-FM-AA was observed in the initial samples (time = 0). 2-FM-Lys and 2-FM-Arg were formed during the storage of onion and garlic samples, whereas 2-FM-γ-amino butyric acid (2-FM-GABA) was only detected at low levels in stored onion (Fig. 1(A)). Thus, 2-FM-GABA showed a maximum concentration of 247 mg/100 g protein and remained constant from the fourth to the

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Comisión Interministerial de Cienciay Tecnologı´a (CICYT) Project AGL2004-05031. Marta Corzo-Martı´nez thanks the CSIC for a student grant.

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