The reaction of fumonisin B(1) with the reducing sugar D-glucose can block the primary amine group of fumonisin B(1) and may detoxify this mycotoxin. A method to separate hundred milligram quantities of fumonisin B(1)-glucose reaction products from the excess D-glucose with a reversed-phase C(18) cartridge was developed. Mass spectrometry revealed that there were four primary products in this c...

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is a subtropical fruit of high commercial value in international trade. However, litchi fruit after harvest can rapidly lose their bright red skin color and turn brown with increasing storage time at ambient temperature. Postharvest browning of litchi fruit is mainly attributed to the degradation of anthocyanins and the oxidation of phenolics. In this study, the ...

Heated food systems contain hundreds of chemical compounds, some being mutagenic and others being antimutagenic. Studies have indicated that foods exposed to drying, frying, roasting, baking, and broiling conditions possess net mutagenic activity as assessed by the Ames/Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity test and the chromosome aberration assay with Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. With the ab...

Purpose of review: Enzymatic browning of fruits and vegetables during postharvest handling and processing degrades the sensory properties and nutritional value and discourages consumer purchase of fresh-cut products. Consequently, enzymatic browning results in significant economic losses for the fresh produce industry. This paper discusses the biochemistry of enzymatic browning, and focuses on ...

The chemistry of Maillard or browning reactions of glycated proteins was studied using the model compound, N alpha-formyl-N epsilon-fructoselysine (fFL), an analog of glycated lysine residues in protein. Incubation of fFL (15 mM) at physiological pH and temperature in 0.2 M phosphate buffer resulted in formation of N epsilon-carboxymethyllysine (CML) in about 40% yield after 15 days. CML was fo...

Table grapes commonly suffer from tissue browning during harvest, packing, storage and shelf life, resulting in lower prices and reduced access to markets. We evaluated the development of browning symptoms in ‘Princess’ table grapes. The berries had high skin browning but very low flesh browning incidences. The most skin browning was found in highly mature grapes and appeared after 3 weeks of c...