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“For British food scientists, toast color is no longer a matter of personal preference—it’s a matter of health.”
The smell of fresh bread, or cooked crispy meat. Makes you wonder how does that happen? Each food product you cook with in the kitchen has two ingredients, proteins (amino acid) and sugars (reducing sugars) that lead to a reaction, which creates flavors and aroma. The most important in the reaction is heat. To start the reaction, the temperature needs to be above 300F to evaporate the protein on the surface of the product. This is an important first step because there are no enzymes that assist in the reaction. This process is called the Maillard reaction.
Acrylamide, the by-product of the maillard reaction, causes health concerns in humans such as carcinogens. Research has shown that adding flavonoids prevents the formation of acrylamide, which is still being researched today. The amount of heat that is used, low or high heat, will affect the amount of acrylamide being produced. The amount of heat and acrylamide produced depends on the product. For example, coffee roasting uses heat less than 300F which produces maillard reaction. The interesting thing about roasting is that it protects the teeth from a certain bacteria called, Streptococcus mutans, which causes tooth decay. Even though maillard reaction has negative impacts on health. The reaction also provides antioxidants, bactericidal, and antiallergenic, depending on which food product you are talking about. Discovery magazine provides a picture of a donut with bacon, a new craze. Personally, I don’t like bacon, but the salt and sugar balance are amazing.
Ashton Yoon mentions, “Canadian Bacon Donut Complimentary of Portobello Cafe in Whistler, Canada. This donut provides many examples of the Maillard reaction. When frying the donut batter, high temperatures promote browning of the dough and also impart crispiness. Secondly, the bacon! the flavors in bacon are the result of Maillard reaction products. The browning of the bacon creates and releases flavonoids. “
References
1. Yoon, Ashton (2019). The Secret Ingredient in Both Meat and Bread: The Maillard Reaction. Discovery Magazine. Website: https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/the-secret-ingredient-in-both-meat-and-bread-the-maillard-reaction
2. Blakemore, Erin (2017). Why Food Experts Are Warning Not to Burn Your Toast. Is it time to bid brown toast farewell? Smithsonian Magazine. Website: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-food-experts-are-warning-brits-not-burn-their-toast-180961890/#v6uqP8LdlFjO33wR.99
3. Tamanna, Nahidet et al. (2015). Food Processing and Maillard Reaction Products: Effect on Human Health and Nutrition. International Journal of Food Science, vol. 2015, Article ID 526762, 6 pages. Website: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijfs/2015/526762/
4. Zhang, Yu et al. (2015). Unravelling the effect of flavonoids on kinetic profiles of
acrylamide in the Maillard reaction. Royal Society of Chemistry. Issue 102: pp. 1-12. Website: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/getauthorversionpdf/C5RA14692E
Living Well In The 21st Century 