Metabolic transit and toxicity of Maillard reaction products.

The feeding of Maillard reaction products (MRP) has been reported to lead to a variety of effects on metabolism which may be classed as "anti-nutritional" or "anti-physiological", depending on whether they are due to the loss of essential nutrients or to the presence of the MRP per se. This paper describes the sensitivity of essential nutrients in the "early" and "advanced" stages of the Maillard reaction, the metabolic transit of Amadori compounds, premelanoidins, melanoidins, hydroxymethyl-furfural, carboxymethyl-lysine, as well as the effects of MRP on pancreatic amylase and on urinary zinc excretion.