Effect of carbohydrate DE on blocked lysine and furosine in a liquid nutritional product

A controlled, quantitative study of Maillard browning vs. dextrose equivalents (DE) was performed on a liquid nutritional product. The early stage Maillard markers furosine and available lysine were determined in retort-sterilised, pilot scale batches formulated with carbohydrate systems with DE variations of 2, 4, 10, and 20. Both markers varied proportionately with DE; every DE increase of 2 units resulted in the blockage (glycation) of an additional 1% of total lysine. When DE 20 maltodextrin was replaced with an 80/20 blend of DE 5 maltodextrin and sucrose (blend DE = 4), lysine blockage decreased by 831 mg/100 g protein, which was 8.25% of the total lysine, and the mole equivalent of 1.75 g of fructoselysine. The quantitative browning/DE relationships enable reliable projections of the nutritional benefits which may be attained through the use of low-DE maltodextrins.