This study was conducted in an effort to investigate the effect of Maillard reaction products (MRPs) on enzymatic browning of burdock and their anti-oxidant activity. The MRPs were prepared by heating glucose and amino acids at 90°C, which served to produce a strong inhibitory effect on burdock polyphenol oxidase. As the reaction time of the solution containing glucose and amino acid increased at 90°C, the production of MRPs increased and intensity of the brown color deepened. When MRPs were prepared by heating at 90°C for five hours, the absorbance of MRPs from glucose and lysine was 6.44, while those of glucose and glycine was 1.95. The MRPs synthesized from the glucose and lysine also reduced the pH of MRPs from 5.60 to 4.51, but those from glucose and glycine decreased slightly from 5.57 to 5.33. The Michealis-Menten constant value (Km) of burdock PPO with pyrocatechol as a substrate was 16.0 mM, and MRPs were a non-competitive inhibitor against burdock PPO. The anti-oxidant activity of MRPs was measured by evaluating its radical scavenging activities of DPPH radicals, ABTS radicals and reducing power. The color intensity of MRPs produced by lysine and glucose were deeper than that produced by glucose and glycine. It was also found that MRPs produced from glucose and lysine exhibited stronger anti-oxidant properties than those produced by glucose and glycine.

• GyeYeong Kim(Dept. of Food Science and Nutrition, Dong-A University, Busan 49315, Korea) Corresponding author
• Heesun Choi(Dept. of Food Science and Nutrition, Dong-A University, Busan 49315, Korea)
• Inshik Park(Dept. of Food Science and Nutrition, Dong-A University, Busan 49315, Korea)