Isotope labeling studies on the formation of multiple addition products of alanine in the pyrolysis residue of glucose/alanine mixtures by high-resolution ESI-TOF-MS

Analysis of the reaction products from micro-vial pyrolysis of the mixture glucose/proline and of a tobacco leaf extract:Search for Amadori intermediates

Micro-vial pyrolysis (PyroVial) was used to study the production of compounds important for the aroma of heat-treated natural products such as tobacco. Firstly, a mixture of glucose and proline was pyrolyzed as model, as this sugar and amino acid are also abundant in tobacco leaf (Nicotiana tobacum L.). The pyrolysate was analyzed using headspace-GC–MS, liquid injection GC–MS and LC–MS. Next, micro-vial pyrolysis in combination with LC–MS was applied to tobacco leaf extract. Using MS deconvolution, molecular feature extraction and differential analysis it was possible to identify Amadori intermediates of the Maillard reaction in the tobacco leaf extract. The intermediate disappeared as was the case for 1-deoxy-1-prolino-β-d-fructose or the concentration decreased in the pyrolysate compared to the original extract such as for the 1-deoxy-1-[2-(3-pyridyl)-1-pyrrolidinyl]-β-d-fructose isomers indicating that Amadori intermediates are important precursors for aroma compound formation.

Interaction of flavanols with amino acids: postoxidative reactivity of the B-ring of catechin with glycine

Flavanol-related structures such as epicatechin and catechins have been associated with potential antioxidant activity in food and are known to interfere with the Maillard reaction through scavenging of reactive dicarbonyl compounds. High-resolution ESI-TOF mass spectrometry and an isotope labeling technique were used to assess the reactivity of glycine with (+)-catechin heated under oxidative conditions at 120 °C for 70 min. Evidence based on accurate mass analysis of the products obtained and the isotope incorporation pattern of [(13)C-1]glycine, [(13)C-2]glycine, and [(15)N]glycine experiments indicated that (+)-catechin formed various adducts with glycine; two of them incorporated a single amino acid, and three adducts incorporated two amino acid moieties. Some of these adducts underwent dehydration reaction at ring C, and in some the C-ring remained intact. Detailed MS/MS analyses of the fragmentation patterns of these adducts have confirmed the addition of amino acid moieties to the oxidized B-ring of (+)-catechin through the formation of Schiff bases. Formation of such nonvolatile (+)-catechin/amino acid adducts provides insight into how amino acid can have the potential of modifying the antioxidant properties of (+)-catechin and how catechin in turn has the potential of modifying the profile of the Maillard reaction.

Diagnostic ions for the analysis of phenylalanine adducts of acrylamide and styrene by ESI-QTOF mass spectrometry

To facilitate the detection of acrylamide or styrene adduct of amino acids by mass spectrometry based techniques, phenylalanine was used as a representative amino acid and pyrolysis was employed in conjunction with isotope labeling technique as a microscale sample preparation tool to generate the reaction products. The residues remaining after the pyrolysis of phenylalanine/styrene, phenylalanine/acrylamide, and phenylalanine/glucose mixtures at 250 °C were analyzed by electrospray quadrupole time-of-flight (ESI-QqTOF) mass spectrometry to identify the adducts. The phenylalanine/acrylamide adduct was independently synthesized for confirmation. Characteristic product ions in the tandem mass spectra were found at m/z 191 for the acrylamide adduct and at m/z 262 and 190 for its double-addition product. On the other hand, an ion at m/z 224 was shown to be diagnostic of the styrene adduct. The ability of the m/z 224 ion to predict the presence of styrene adduct in a heated phenylalanine/glucose model system was tested and verified. Detailed isotope labeling analysis of the phenylalanine/glucose model further indicated the formation of a novel adduct that was consistent with the reaction of the Amadori product with styrene. Such diagnostic ions that are needed to develop MS/MS-based screening methodologies may accelerate in the future the detection of Michael-type adducts in food.

Double Schiff base adducts of 2,3-butanedione with glycine: formation of pyrazine rings with the participation of amino acid carbon atoms

The 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds are well-known for their ability to undergo a one-to-one interaction with amino acids and generate aroma-active pyrazines through the Strecker reaction. An earlier publication reported the generation of tetrahydropyrazine moiety from the double addition of amino acids to 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds. To evaluate the potential of this intermediate to undergo oxidation and form pyrazines, a model system composed of glycine and 2,3-butanedione was evaluated under pyrolytic conditions at 250 °C, as well as under pressurized high-temperature conditions at 120 °C. These studies have indicated the unexpected formation of 2,3-dimethylpyrazine and 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine in addition to the expected tetramethylpyrazine. Isotope-labeling studies using [¹³C-1]glycine (98%), [¹³C-2]glycine (99%), and [¹⁵N]glycine (98%) have shown that, as expected, tetramethylpyrazine was completely unlabeled, whereas 51% of 2,3-dimethylpyrazine incorporated two ¹³C-2 atoms from glycine, 20% incorporated one atom, and 29% was unlabeled. Furthermore, the label incorporation pattern in the major mass spectral fragment at m/z 67 indicated that the C-2 atoms originating from glycine reside in the ring system of 2,3-dimethylpyrazine. The formation of doubly labeled 2,3-dimethylpyrazine was rationalized through proposition of the double addition of glycine to 2,3-butanedione, and the formation of singly labeled isotopomer was justified by sequential Schiff base formation of 2-amino-butan-3-one first with the Strecker aldehyde and then followed by glycine. This pathway can also generate the double-labeled pyrazine. Finally, the unlabeled pyrazine was proposed to form through the Strecker reaction of 2,3-butanedione and its degradation product glyoxal with glycine. The proposed pathways were also consistent with the observed label distribution patterns of 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine.