Formation kinetics of hydroxymethylfurfural, lactulose and furosine in milk heated under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions

A detailed kinetic study of hydroxymethylfurfural, lactulose and furosine formation was performed upon heating milk at temperatures between 90 degrees C and 140 degrees C. In case of prolonged heating, formation kinetics could be described by a fractional conversion model. Considering only the first phase of the model, kinetics could be simplified to a pseudo-zero order model. A first assessment of kinetic parameters was made by isothermal experiments. Data were analysed using both a 2-step linear and a 1-step non-linear regression method. Only for furosine, did the global 1-step regression approach seem to give better results than the individual 2-step regression approach. Next, the estimated parameters k(ref) and Ea were re-evaluated under non-isothermal conditions by subjecting milk to a time variable temperature profile. Given the complexity of Maillard reaction, it seemed better to estimate kinetic parameters under non-isothermal conditions when using a simplified model. Formation of hydroxymethylfurfural, lactulose and furosine was characterized by an Ea value of 90.2 kJ/mol (k(110 degrees C) = 1.2 micromol/l, min), 99.1 kJ/mol (k(110 degrees C) = 51.5 mg/l, min) and 88.7 kJ/mol (k(110 degrees C) = 16.3 mg/100 g protein, min) respectively. Additionally, 90% joint confidence regions were constructed in order to obtain an accurate representation of the statistical confidence associated with the simultaneously estimated parameters.