How Maillard Reaction Influences Sensorial Properties (Color, Flavor and Texture) of Food Products?

Maillard reaction products are largely responsible for the development of color, taste and especially aroma of thermally treated food. For this reason, our review focused on gathering literature from the last 10 years about the influence of the Maillard reaction products formation on food acceptance in aspects of color, texture and flavor. Maillard reaction products have a characteristic odor note and can significantly positively or negatively influence the sensory acceptance of a product. For example, pyrazines and thiols were found in most cases as the most potential odor compounds formed in MR. Another important aspect of high sensorial acceptability is food color. Color development of thermally treated products is mainly attributed to the formation of brown polymers called melanoidins. It was also noted that the increasing concentration of “probably carcinogenic and mutagenic” acrylamide is related to the darker color of a product. Not much attention is focused on the connection between Maillard reaction products formation and textural properties. Therefore, textural properties have been mostly investigated in meat products. Changes in the texture of meat products were estimated as the difference in linkage formations between proteins and polysaccharides.