The Effect of Concentration, Thermal Processing, and Storage Temperature on the Interaction Between Alpha-Ketoglutaric Acid and Tryptophan
Formation of colored compounds caused by the interaction of α-ketoglutaric acid and tryptophan was followed spectrophotmetrically at 470 and 620 nm. It was found that the rate of formation of these colored compounds was effected by the concentration of α-ketoglutaric acid and/or tryptophan. High concentrations of both α-ketoglutaric acid and tryptophan caused the greatest concentration of such colored compounds, but singly, α-ketoglutaric acid concentration was more effective than that of tryptophan. The amount of colored compounds formed after storage at 75 F was not altered by processing, since both processed and unprocessed samples showed the same concentration after storage. The interaction mixtures stored at 38 F proceeded at very slow rates compared with those stored at 75 F. The results also indicated that individual effects caused by processing were overcome by storage at room temperature (75 F) since all samples were similar after storage.