Role of precursors on the kinetics of acrylamide formation and elimination under low moisture conditions using a multiresponse approach – Part I: Effect of the type of sugar

The effect of type of sugar on the kinetics of acrylamide formation and elimination reactions was investigated under low moisture conditions using equimolar asparagine–sugar model systems, heated at temperatures between 120 and 200 °C. The monosaccharides glucose and fructose and the disaccharide sucrose were selected to study this effect. A mechanistic model was used as a basis for multiresponse modelling of the different responses measured (acrylamide, glucose, fructose, sucrose, asparagine, aspartic acid and melanoidins). In spite of the higher acrylamide yield per mol initial asparagine for sucrose over fructose to glucose, the kinetic parameters estimated for acrylamide formation revealed that the type of sugar, monosaccharide or disaccharide, had only a limited effect on this reaction. The corresponding activation energy, however, was significantly lower in case the disaccharide sucrose was added. An opposite trend was observed for the acrylamide elimination rate constant, being significantly higher for the system with sucrose, whereas the temperature dependence of this rate constant remained unaffected by the type of sugar available under the reaction conditions considered.