what are the browning reactions in food?

 what is enzymatic reaction?

enzymatic browning is an oxidation reaction that takes place in most of the sliced food materials. 

oxygen in air that reacts with the sliced food and it turns brown in colour. this browning especially 

happens when the polyphenol oxidisae or other enzymes catalize the oxidation of phenols in the 

fruit to form compounds called quinones. the quinones can then polymerise to form melanins, which

 cause brown pigment.

what is non enzymatic browning?

non enzymatic browning is one of the major cause of the detoriation of the food during 

frying,baking,cooking, storage of dried and concentrated food during maillard reaction, ascorbic acid

 oxidation and caramelization.

caramelization:

it occurs when the sugar and or carbohydrates are heated. it is the removal of water from the sugar 

followed by isomerisation and polymerisation. it provides a nutty flavour.

ascorbic acid oxidation:

it is irreversibily oxidized to deascorbic acid thus allowing browning upon its depletion. this occurs 

mostly in the citrus fruits such as lemon,orange etc..

Maillard reaction:

it is a chemical reaction between the amino acid and the reducing sugar. the products of the maillard

 reaction lead to the darkening of colour, reduced solublity of proteins, development of bitter 

flavours and reduced nutritional availablity of proteins such as lysine.

all these reactions which takes place in our food….. due to various reasons…. here is where the food

 technology works ….