Comparative study of antioxidant and flavour characteristics of Maillard reaction products from five types of protein hydrolysates

Summary Antioxidant, structural, and flavour characteristics of Maillard reaction products (MRPs) prepared from different hydrolysates of sweet potato protein (SPPH), potato protein (PPH), soy protein isolate (SPIH), egg white protein (EWPH), and whey protein isolate (WPIH) were compared. WPIH‐MRPs exhibited the highest Maillard reaction (MR) progress followed by SPPH‐MRPs as indicated by the lowest pH (4.95 and 5.10, respectively) and the highest fluorescence intensity ( P < 0.05). The results of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) explained the significant changes in functional groups of peptides after MR, especially in WPIH‐MRPs and SPPH‐MRPs. The highest oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) of 125.24 µg TE (Trolox equivalents)/mL was observed for WPIH‐MRPs, followed by SPPH‐MRPs with an ORAC value of 104.07 µg TE/mL ( P < 0.05). MR conferred an increase of sweetness, sourness, and umami attributes and reduction of bitterness for all MRPs, and WPIH‐MRPs presented the highest umami taste score of 7.4, followed by SPPH‐MRPs with a taste score of 7.1. Stronger umami taste was correlated with MW 200–500 and <200 Da peptides. No acrylamide was detected in SPPH‐MRPs, which also presented less 5‐hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) and Nε‐(1‐Carboxymethyl)‐L‐lysine (CML) compared to WPIH‐MRPs. Thus, MRPs derived from SPPH could be an alternative way for natural flavours’ production with improved antioxidant activity and less harmful compounds.