Abstract:Wheat protein was hydrolyzed by proteases Flavourzyme, Neutrase and Protamex with Flavourzyme being the best for the production of precursors of bread flavor and the maximum degree of hydrolysis (DH). Based on orthogonal experiments the optimum hydrolysis parameters were: substrate concentration, 5%; Flavourzyme concentration, 2 000 U/g; pH, 7.0； temperature, 50 ℃; time, 2.5 h. Under the condition, a DH of 35.50% was reached and Maillard reaction products as the optimum precursors of bread flavor were obtained. The hydrolysate contained 5.24 and 3.91 mg/mL more amino acids for bread flavor, 7.42 and 4.45 mg/mL more total free amino acids, 6.79 and 1.59% higher contents of the portion with the molecular weight (MW) below 3 861, and 12.34 and 3.34% higher contents of the portion with the MW below 1405Da than those of 0.5 h and 1.5 h, respectively. The portion with the MW below 3861Da was favorable to the Maillard reaction. SPME/GC-MS analysis proved that the Maillard reaction products formed the key bread flavor. This paper encourages the further study for the production of bread flavor compounds via the Maillard reaction.
