Kinetics of the Maillard Reaction Between Aspartame and Glucose in Solution at High Temperatures

Comparison was made of the extent of browning during accelerated storage tests of glucose/aspartame and glucose/glycine model systems under steady state conditions of 70, 80, 90, and 100°C and an a_w of 0.80. Browning of aspartame followed zero order kinetics with a time to 0.1 absorbance units at 420 nm of 11.40, 5.3, 2.15 and 1.0 hr for each respective temperature. The activation energy (E_A) was 22.0 Kcal/mole for the glucose/aspartame system and 15.5 Kcal/mole for the glucose/glycine system. The temperature sensitivities (Q₁₀) for the model systems were 2.4 and 1.9, respectively. The predicted shelf life to reach 0.1 absorbance units in an aqueous system at 45°C is 62 days compared to the actual value of 60 days.