{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T06:19:29Z","timestamp":1787897969430,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787875200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Arginine-derived Maillard reaction products (MRPs) have shown promising antioxidant activities. However, how structurally distinct hexose reducing sugars, such as D-fructose and D-galactose, affect the formation and functional properties of L-arginine-derived MRPs remains unclear.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Arginine-fructose (Arg-Fru) and arginine-galactose (Arg-Gal) model MRPs were prepared by heating at 100 \u00b0C for 0.5, 1, and 2 h. The reaction rate was analyzed by monitoring the reaction process and using a kinetic model, while substrate consumption and apparent melanoidin production were measured. Early non-covalent interactions were further investigated using molecular docking and 200 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Finally, functional differences were evaluated by chemical and intracellular antioxidant activities.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Compared with Arg-Fru, Arg-Gal showed a more great decrease in pH and higher A294 and A420 values under the same reaction conditions. Kinetic analysis showed that Arg-Gal had higher reaction rate constants. Meanwhile, Arg-Gal exhibited stronger UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence intensity, greater consumption of free amino groups and reducing sugars, and higher apparent melanoidin formation. Molecular docking results showed that D-galactose formed more hydrogen bonds with L-arginine than D-fructose; MD simulations further showed that the Arg-Gal system formed approximately 20 more hydrogen bonds on average, and the diffusion behavior of D-galactose was closer to that of L-arginine, suggesting stronger non-covalent association. Functionally, Arg-Gal showed stronger DPPH radical scavenging capacity, reducing power, and intracellular antioxidant activity than Arg-Fru.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>D-galactose may promote the Maillard reaction process by enhancing early non-covalent interactions with L-arginine and being associated with enhanced formation of intermediates and melanoidin-related substances, thereby enhancing the antioxidant activity of MRPs. These findings provide experimental and molecular insights into the role of sugar structure in modulating arginine-derived Maillard reaction systems.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1924087","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T05:35:11Z","timestamp":1787895311000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["D-galactose enhances Maillard reaction and antioxidant activity of arginine-derived products: experimental and molecular insights"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Yanan","family":"Ding","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Tea and Food Science, Wuyi University","place":["Wuyishan, China"]},{"name":"School of Food Science and Biotechnology, Zhejiang Gongshang University","place":["Hangzhou, 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