Preparation of activated flavor precursor DFG, N-(1-deoxy-1-fructosylglycine) by combination of vacuum evaporation and closed system heating steps

•Solid state DFG formation from glycine/glucose is fastest at aw = 0.22-0.33.•In solution reaction rate is negatively correlated with aw in the range 0.8 to 1.•Heating at 65 °C under vacuum first, then at constant aw yields 40% mol DFG in 12 h.

Amadori rearrangement products are potent “activated flavor precursors”. This study describes a stepwise optimization of DFG (1-deoxy-1-fructosylglycine) formation from glycine and glucose, varying temperature, water activity aw, concentration, and ratio/state of precursor mix. In the solid state reaction at 50 °C for 16 h, yield of DFG increased with decreasing water activity with a peak at aw = 0.22-0.33. In water the conversion was slower and negatively correlated with water activity in the range aw = 0.8-1. An industrially applicable 2-step vacuum drying and heating process was explored, which first concentrates precursor solution to aw = 0.5-0.6 and then continues the heating in a closed vessel for an additional 2-4 h. Over 40 mol% conversion from glucose to DFG was obtained on a multi-gram scale. Fine tuning of conditions will be needed for other amino acid/carbohydrate combinations and may offer new perspectives for tailored product flavor generation under moderate heating.