Allium discoloration: the nature of onion pinking and garlic greening

R. Kubec, M. Hrbáčová, R. A Musah and J. Velíšek
Additional contact information
R. Kubec: Department of Food Chemistry and Analysis, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech
M. Hrbáčová: Department of Food Chemistry and Analysis, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech
R. A Musah: Department of Food Chemistry and Analysis, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech
J. Velíšek: Department of Food Chemistry and Analysis, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech

Czech Journal of Food Sciences, 2004, vol. 22, issue SpecialIssue, S109-S112

Abstract: Precursors involved in the formation of pink and green-blue pigments during onion and garlic processing, respectively, have been studied. It has been confirmed that the formation of both pigments is of a very similar nature, with (E)-S-(1-propenyl)cysteine sulfoxide (isoalliin) serving as the primary precursor. Upon disruption of the tissue, isoalliin and other S-alk(en)ylcysteine sulfoxides are enzymatically cleaved, yielding prop-1-enylcontaining thiosulfinates [CH3CH = CHS(O)SR; R = methyl, allyl, propyl, 1-propenyl], among others. The latter compounds subsequently react with amino acids to produce the pigments. Whereas the onion and leek-related propyl, prop-1-enyl and methyl derivatives can form pink, pink-red and magenta compounds, those containing the allyl group yield dark blue products after reacting with glycine at pH 5.0.

Keywords: Allium; garlic; onion; discoloration; pigment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://cjfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/10629-CJFS.html (text/html)
http://cjfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/10629-CJFS.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlcjf:v:22:y:2004:i:specialissue:id:10629-cjfs

DOI: 10.17221/10629-CJFS

Access Statistics for this article

Czech Journal of Food Sciences is currently edited by Ing. Zdeňka Náglová, Ph.D.

More articles in Czech Journal of Food Sciences from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().