Determination of Volatile Sulfur Compounds Formed by the Maillard Reaction of Glutathione with Glucose

The volatile compounds formed from the thermal reaction of glutathione with glucose were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Sulfur-containing compounds dominated the volatiles in glutathione-Maillard reaction products (GSH-MRPs) and included 1 thiazole, 12 thiophenes, 2 polysulfides, 1 sulfur-substituted furan, and 1 miscellaneous. The carbohydrate module labeling (CAMOLA) experiment was employed to evaluate the relative importance of precursors to the formation pathways and elucidate the origin of the carbon skeleton for sulfur-containing compounds in GSH-MRPs. The isotopomeric distribution patterns showed that 2-ethylthiophene, 2,5-dimethylthiophene, 1-thiophen-2-ylethanone, 5-methylthiophene-2-carbaldehyde, and 1-thiophen-3-ylethanone can be formed from the intact carbon skeleton of a C-6 glucose chain, whereas 3-methylthiophene-2-carbaldehyde occurs via the recombination of fragments that may originate from both GSH and glucose.