Exploring The Browning Effect

Caramelisation is a type of non-enzymatic browning reaction. It involves the breakdown of saccharides (aka sugar) into compounds that have different flavour.

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Involving more than 100 types of intermediate produced, the process is very complex that it is yet to be fully understood by scientists. An overview of the process is as follows:

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1. Equilibrium of anomeric and ring formation

2. Sucrose inversion of fructose and glucose

3. Condensation

4. Intramolecular bonding

5. Isomerization of aldose to ketose

6. Dehydration reactions

7. Fragmentation reactions

8. Unsaturated polymer formation