A new procedure to measure cysteine equivalent methylglyoxal scavenging activity (CEMSA) of foods under simulated physiological conditions

Abstract

This study aims at investigating dicarbonyl scavenging potential of foods under simulated physiological conditions using a kinetic approach. Bioaccessible fractions obtained after gastrointestinal digestion were reacted with methylglyoxal for 24 h (pH 7.4, 37 °C). The changes in the percentage of methylglyoxal inhibition with time were plotted for food samples and cysteine. The area under the curves were used to calculate the cysteine equivalent methylglyoxal scavenging activity (CEMSA) of foods. Among foods, nuts, meat, egg, cheese, strawberry, broccoli, garlic, and onion were found to have CEMSA values higher than 15 mmol cysteine equivalent per kg. The CEMSA values were highly correlated with total thiol and amino groups for all foods except fruits. The foods were classified as “rapidly reacting & high capacity”, “slowly reacting & high capacity”, and “slowly reacting & low capacity” based on their MGO inhibition percentage and rate.

Keywords

• Dicarbonyl scavenging activity
• Cysteine equivalent
• Bioaccessible fractions of foods
• Free thiols
• Amino groups
• Flavonoids