Furan formation from vitamin C in a starch-based model system: Influence of the reaction conditions

The generation of furan from vitamin C during thermal treatment of a starch-based model system, which simulated baby food, was studied. Results indicated that the amount of sample heated in the vial influenced the furan generation from ascorbic acid. Increasing the amount of heated sample from 5% to approximately 98% of the total vial volume, drastically reduced furan formation from 70 ppb to 16 ppb. Changes in ascorbic acid concentrations from 0.1 to 4.5 mg/g did not influence furan concentration nor did different ascorbic/dehydroascorbic acid molar ratios. Interestingly, waxy corn starch itself considerably enhanced furan generation from ascorbic acid. Under the same conditions, 13.2 ppb of furan was generated in starch-based samples, while in ascorbic acid buffered solutions only 0.4 ppb of furan was formed. Application of other matrices, in particular agar and hydrolysed starch, resulted in similar furan concentrations as for native starch, while in polyol solutions furan concentrations were comparable to those obtained for the buffered ascorbic acid solutions.