An Amadori rearrangement product (ARP) derived from
ribose (Rib) and
glutathione (GSH) was prepared and identified as N-(1-deoxy-d-ribulos-1-yl)-glutathione by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and NMR. Thermal treatment of the ARP aqueous
solution was conducted, and a relatively high temperature was found to accelerate the degradation of the ARP. The concentration of
furans formed at 120 °C was more than 6.39 times that at 100 °C, and especially, the high temperature favored the formation of
furfural and
4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3(2H)-furanone through deoxyosone
dehydration. The promoting role of extra-added GSH or its constituent
amino acids was investigated in the volatile formation during thermal processing of the ARP. Both, the added GSH and its constituent
amino acids, could timely capture
glyoxal (GO) and
methylglyoxal (MGO) to facilitate Strecker degradation, which improved
pyrazine formation. Compared with
glycine and
glutamic acid,
cysteine was the most effective extra-added
amino acid to react with GO and MGO to produce
pyrazine and methylpyrazine. More importantly, the
cysteine degraded from extra-added GSH effectively accelerated the generation of
sulfur-containing volatile compounds through the reaction of
cysteine degradation products with
furans and shorter-chain α-dicarbonyl compounds.