Use of sacrificial anode technology to mitigate non-enzymic Maillard browning

•Maillard browning was reduced in model systems containing electropositive metals such as Mg, Mn, Al and Sn.•Metals may act as sacrificial anodes to suppress the formation of dehydroreductones, key browning agents.•The behavior of metals in Maillard reactions provided more evidence for electrochemical activity in the reactions.•Results provide a scientific explanation for the observed reduced browning behavior caused by metallic coatings in food packaging. Experiments were performed to examine the effects of Maillard browning induced in the presence of metallic elements. The rate of brown pigment formation was shown to be reduced in model Maillard reactions performed in the presence of electropositive metals. Experiments involved reactions of d-xylose, d-arabinose and d-ribose with glycine, α-l- or β-alanine and l-valine in pH 7.0 phosphate buffer at ca. 100°C. “Browning” measured spectrophotometrically at 420nm was significantly lower (compared with controls) in selected reactions containing elemental Mg, Al, Mn and Sn particles. It was hypothesized that the metals acted in sacrificial anode redox fashion to reduce or eliminate dehydroreductones believed to be key Maillard intermediates ultimately leading to less browning.