Relationship between the Maillard Reaction and Lipid Peroxidation in Adding Various Fatty Acids on Bread Baking

The Maillard reaction accompanying the baking of bread largely affects the quality of finished bread and the degree of taste. Particularly, the difference of lipids as a secondary material can be considered as one of the major factors. We examined how the differences in constituent fatty acids of lipids in secondary materials are related to Maillard reaction. Chemical differences in added fatty acids were identified to be a major factor in the induction of the Maillard reaction and lipid peroxidation in bread baking. With saturated fatty acids, a higher carbon number tended to promote the Maillard reaction induction and suppress lipid peroxidation induction. Conversely, with unsaturated fatty acids, a greater degree of unsaturation tended to suppress the Maillard reaction induction and promote lipid peroxidation induction. The present findings clarified the involvement of fatty acid carbon number and degree of unsaturation in the Maillard reaction and lipid peroxidation inductions in bread baking. This phenomenon is a novel finding for the food science field.