Antioxidative activity of caramelisation products and their preventive effect on lipid oxidation in fish mince

The antioxidative activity of caramelisation products (CPs) from different sugars (glucose, fructose, ribose and xylose) prepared by heating the sugar solutions at 100 °C at pH 7 and 10 was investigated. Browning and intermediate degradation products increased with increasing heating time. The development was dependent upon the type of sugar and was generally higher at alkaline pH than neutral pH. 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and reducing power increased with the increase in browning and intermediate formation. Among all sugars tested, fructose exhibited the highest antioxidant activity as evidenced by the greatest scavenging effect and reducing power. Fructose CPs showed ferrous iron chelating potential. The formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in a comminuted saury model system was retarded with the addition of fructose CPs during iced storage. Therefore, CPs of sugars can be a promising novel antioxidant to prevent lipid oxidation in food systems.