The formation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furoic acid (HMFA) during roasting of coffee was studied. At 240 degrees C the maximum concentration of HMF occurs after 3 min with a quick degradation up to 10 min when most of the HMF has disappeared again. Similar to 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural, HMFA is formed in coffee but not in a model system consisting of sucrose, alanine with or without chlorogenic acid. It was shown that HMFA is produced from different precursors than HMF namely glyceraldehyde and pyruvate. The comparison of the laboratory scale roasting with industrial roasting showed that 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural decreases with a higher degree of roasting whereas HMFA did not change. In the laboratory scale experiments, the highest concentration of 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural in coffee (909 microg/g) was obtained after 3 min and the maximum concentration of HMFA after 4 min (150 microg/g). Industrially roasted coffee contained up to 350 microg/g 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural and 140 microg/g HMFA.

Thermal treatment of an aqueous solution of D-galacturonic acid at pH 3, 5, and 8 led to rapid browning of the solution and to the formation of carbocyclic compounds such as reductic acid (2,3-dihydroxy-2-cyclopenten-1-one), DHCP (4,5-dihydroxy-2-cyclopenten-1-one), and furan-2-carbaldehyde, as degradation products in weak acidic solution. Studies on their formation revealed 2-ketoglutaraldehyde as their common key intermediate. Norfuraneol (4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3-(2H)-furanone) is a typical alkaline degradation product and formed after isomerization. Further model studies revealed reductic acid as an important and more browning active compound than furan-2-carbaldehyde, which led to a red color of the model solution. This red-brown color is also characteristic of thermally treated uronic acid solutions.

Thermal treatment of aqueous solutions of D-galacturonic acid and L-alanine at pH 3, 5, and 8 led to rapid and more intensive nonenzymatic browning reactions compared to similar solutions of other uronic acids and to Maillard reactions of reducing sugars. The hemiacetal ring structures of uronic acids had a high impact on browning behavior and reaction pathways. Besides reductic acid (1,2-dihydroxy-2-cyclopenten-1-one), 4,5-dihydroxy-2-cyclopenten-1-one (DHCP), furan-2-carboxaldehyde, and norfuraneol (4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3-(2H)-furanone) could be detected as typical products of nonenzymatic uronic acid browning reactions. 2-(2-Formyl-1H-pyrrole-1-yl)propanoic acid (FPA) and 1-(1-carboxyethyl)-3-hydroxypyridin-1-ium (HPA) were identified as specific reaction products of uronic acids with amine participation like l-alanine. In contrast, the structurally related D-galacturonic acid methyl ester showed less browning activity and degradation under equal reaction conditions. Pectin-specific degradation products such as 5-formyl-2-furanoic acid and 2-furanoic acid were found but could not be verified for d-galacturonic acid monomers alone.

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