Abstract:

The effect of (E)-2-octenal on Maillard reaction products was investigated by thermal reaction systems
consisting of L-cysteine and D-xylose. The volatiles generated in different reaction mixtures were analyzed
by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and
principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the volatile components. The results showed that
the addition of (E)-2-octenal had obvious effects on most of the volatiles, including 2-methyl-3-furanthiol,
2-furfurylthiol, 2-thiophenemethanol, 3-methylthiophene, furfural, 2,5-dimethyl-furan, 4,5-dimethyl-thiazole,
2-methyl-5-(methylthio)-furan, etc., and 2-methyl-3-furanthiol, 2-furfurylthiol, 2-methyl-5-(methylthio)-furan,
3-methylthiophene and 2,5-thiophenedicarboxaldehyde were formed in much lower concentrations when (E)-
2-octenal was present in the reaction system. In addition, some new thiophenes, including 2-butyl-thiophene
and 2-ethyl-5-hexyl-thiophene, as well as some new alcohols, including ketones and esters were detected in the
presence of (E)-2-octenal.

Key words: Maillard reaction, D-xylose, L-cysteine, (E)-2-octenal, volatiles