Short communication: Reducing agents attenuate methylglyoxal-based browning in Parmesan cheese.

The microbial production of methylglyoxal in cheese has been linked to the formation of brown pigmentation and distinctive volatiles. This study investigated methods for preventing methylglyoxal-induced browning in Parmesan cheese through the addition of reducing agents. Cheeses were treated with the reducing agents sodium bisulfite, glutathione, and erythorbate at 2:1 and 4:1 molar ratios with added methylglyoxal, and then incubated at 10 °C. Colorimetric methods were used to determine degree of browning at 0, 3, and 6 d. Sodium bisulfite and glutathione inhibited the browning reactions of methylglyoxal compared with the control. Erythorbate was much less effective than the other compounds at inhibiting browning, yet was significantly less browned than the control. These reducing agents are thought to act as strong nucleophiles that can form thiohemiketals and thioketals at the carbonyl carbons of methylglyoxal.