Abstract
Palm sugar-like flavouring (PSLF) is a type of flavour product that is formed by heating amino acids and sugar under specific heating conditions. Unfortunately, PSLF has a salty taste and contains high amounts of acrylamide. Hence, the objective of this research was to reduce saltiness and acrylamide without negatively affecting the aroma properties of PSLF. A decrease in the sodium phosphate (NaHPO4) buffer concentration from 0.20 to 0.02 M was found to reduce sodium to approximately 15% of the level found in original PSLF. A further decrease (~25%) in the sodium content was achieved by removing monobasic sodium phosphate (NaH2PO4) from the buffer system. Meanwhile, the addition of CaCl2 at 20–40 mg/L reduced the acrylamide content in PSLF by as much as 58%. A CaCl2 concentration of 20 mg/mL was most favourable as it most efficiently suppressed acrylamide formation while providing an acceptably high flavour yield in PSLF. In view of the high acrylamide content in PSLF, additional work is necessary to further reduce the amount of acrylamide by controlling the asparagine concentration in the precursor mixture.
Highlights
Palm sugar is famous for its unique flavour and is widely used in many local Asian cuisines and deserts
Some major limitations of this traditional method include the inconsistent quality of raw palm sap and non-standardised processing methods, which lead to inconsistent quality of the resulting palm sugar
Na+ salt has been reported to reduce acrylamide formation [12]; a decrease in the Na2HPO4/NaH2PO4 concentration and removal of monobasic NaH2PO4 would decrease the concentration of Na+ in the mixture, which would reduce the inhibition on acrylamide formation in palm sugar-like flavouring (PSLF)
Summary
Palm sugar is famous for its unique flavour and is widely used in many local Asian cuisines and deserts. Some major limitations of this traditional method include the inconsistent quality of raw palm sap and non-standardised processing methods, which lead to inconsistent quality of the resulting palm sugar. These factors prompted the establishment of a novel approach in which a mixture of amino acids and sugar dissolved in sodium phosphate buffer solution was heated at a specific temperature and time to undergo the Maillard reaction [2]. The resulting final product was named palm sugar-like flavouring (PSLF). PSLF possesses a high amount of flavour compounds and improved aroma stability compared with traditional palm sugar [2].
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