Structural studies of the Maillard reaction products of a protein using ion trap mass spectrometry.

The early stage products of the Maillard reaction of egg white lysozyme with D-glucose were studied. Incubation with D-glucose at 50 degrees C for 20 days caused reaction on the Lys and Arg residues of lysozyme as follows: all of the six Lys residues and 10 of the 11 Arg residues in lysozyme reacted with D-glucose; Arg 61 did not react with D-glucose. The Lys residues reacted with D-glucose with 1 mol of dehydration per mole of residue, and the Arg residues reacted with 2 mol of dehydration per mole of residue. The major constituent of the Amadori product with the epsilon-amino group of the Lys residue and the D-glucose was found to be the beta-pyranose form. The structure of the early stage product of the Maillard reaction of a protein with a sugar is the same as that of an amino acid with a sugar. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.