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🍞 The Maillard reaction is not caramelisation

Brown is a colour shared by different chemistries. Follow amino acids, reducing sugars, heat and water to learn why the Maillard reaction is not caramelisation.

4
lessons
~20 min
to learn
🔬 Science
subject
Adults
level
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What you’ll learn

  1. Two kinds of brownDistinguish caramelisation from Maillard browning by their reactants and products.Brown colour is an outcome shared by different heat-driven systems, not a reaction name.
  2. The Maillard routeTrace the Maillard reaction from amino-carbonyl chemistry through aroma compounds and melanoidins.Maillard chemistry is a cascade whose branches depend on the food matrix.
  3. What changes the reactionRelate water activity, pH, temperature, ingredients, and time to browning rate and control.Surface conditions decide whether heat steams, browns, or over-degrades the food.
  4. Reading the crustUse sensory and ingredient evidence to interpret overlapping browning pathways in real foods.Precise language helps you adjust browning without pretending mixed foods have one reaction.

Questions this course answers

What does caramelisation require at minimum?

Caramelisation is a sugar-led set of thermal reactions; Maillard chemistry requires a reducing sugar and an amino group.

Match each ingredient or condition to its role.

The Maillard network depends on reactants and surface conditions, then ends in many products including brown melanoidins.

Put this surface-browning sequence in a sensible order.

Drying changes the thermal conditions; the reaction network then creates volatile aromas and later brown polymers.

Which reaction family requires a reducing sugar and an amino group?

The defining reactants of Maillard chemistry are a reducing sugar and an amino group from an amino acid, peptide, or protein.

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