What are melanoidins?
Melanoidins are colloidal molecules having a benzoic ring that are formed by Maillard reaction during cooking of foods containing sugars and amino acids; they have a dark brown color and a characteristic aroma of foods such as freshly baked bread, roasted coffee, toasted malt for beer production etc.
Where are the melanoidins found?
In toasted, roasted foods or in which a heat treatment is required for the acquisition of characteristic color, taste and aroma, the formation of melanoidins is a determining factor for the success of the finished preparation; on the contrary, in other foods such as sterilized milk, their presence adversely affects the natural taste, aroma and color of the finished food. NB . The high melanoidine content of the powdered milk obtained with the Roller Dry method gives a characteristic "cooked" taste (typical of milk heated excessively in the saucepan) and causes a reduction in its food pleasantness.
Melanoidins also play an important role in short-term storage of cooked meats; they, once formed with cooking, exert an antioxidant power that allows to avoid the appearance of an "unpleasant taste" even after regenerating cooked meat several times.
Melanoidine: do they do well or do they hurt?
As we have seen, from an organoleptic and gustatory point of view, melanoidins can be considered a desirable or unwanted product depending on the specific food in which they appear; on the contrary, in terms of health, melanoidines CANNOT be considered a harmful component ... ON THE CONTRARY!
In other articles we talked about the positive and negative aspects of cooking sugars, proteins and fats; it has therefore come to the conclusion that some molecules deriving from the Maillard reaction are harmless, others are appreciated while others (at high concentrations) can be harmful. Melanoidins, in contrast to acrylamide, acrolein, formaldehyde and all polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, fall into the category of molecules beneficial to the organism ; they have a remarkable antioxidant power on the food, an ability to be transferred easily ALSO to the cells of the body that absorbs them. This is the reason why some cooked vegetables, despite suffering a considerable nutritional loss due to the destruction of thermolabile vitamins and polyphenols, recover (even only partially) their antioxidant power.
On balance, it is true that cooking fresh vegetables results in a reduction in antioxidants of its own, but it is also true that there is a significant increase in melanoidins; obviously, the process depends above all on the cooking temperature. It is essential that this is sufficient to trigger the Maillard reaction ... but it would be useless to enjoy the high concentration of antioxidant melanoidins if the temperature was so high as to favor the release of other TOXIC molecules such as hydroxymethylfurfural - HMF and HMF. acrylamide.
The product that most notoriously contains melanoidins due to the triggering of the Maillard reaction at moderate temperatures (around 70 ° C) is dehydrated AL HEAT fruit (apricots and prunes - preserved fruit); this one possesses a notable quantity of melanoidine (recognizable from the dark color) that allows to sensibly limit the addition of food additives such as sulfur dioxide .
