Antimicrobial and antioxidant capacity of glucosamine-zinc(II) complex via non-enzymatic browning reaction.

Coordination compounds play an important role in the life process, and have been widely used in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry. Herein, we have developed a novel kind of glucosamine-zinc(II) complex (GlcN-ZC) for food additive using non-enzymatic browning reaction. The GlcN-ZC was characterized by FTIR and XRD. Moreover, UV absorbance changes, browning intensity, fluorescence changes, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial assessment of GlcN-ZC were also evaluated. Results showed the GlcN-ZC intermediate compounds were accumulated in non-enzymatic browning while prolonging heating time and melanoidins were produced in the final stage. The fluorescence changes confirmed that fluorophores were formed during the non-enzymatic reaction and fluorescence intensity reached a maximun at 60 min. The highest radical scavenging activity of GlcN-ZC formed after 180 min of heating was 79.2%. Furthermore, GlcN-ZC exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. Therefore, GlcN-ZC can be used as a novel promising additive in the food industry.