Maillard reaction products from chitosan–xylan ionic liquid solution

A facile method is reported to prepare Maillard reaction products (MRPs) from chitosan and xylan in co-solvent ionic liquid. UV absorbance and fluorescence changes were regarded as indicators of the occurrence of Maillard reaction. FT-IR, NMR, XRD and TG were used to investigate the structure of chitosan–xylan conjugate. The results revealed that when chitosan reacted with xylan in ionic liquid, the hydrogen bonds in chitosan were destroyed, the facts resulted in the formation of chitosan–xylan MRPs. Moreover, when the mass ratio of chitosan to xylan was 1:1, the Maillard reaction proceeded easily. In addition, relatively high antioxidant property was also noted for the chitosan–xylan conjugate with mass ratio 1:1. So the obtained chitosan–xylan MRP is a promising antioxidant agent for food industry.