Formation of phenylacetic acid and benzaldehyde by degradation of phenylalanine in the presence of lipid hydroperoxides: New routes in the amino acid degradation pathways initiated by lipid oxidation products.

Lipid oxidation is a main source of reactive carbonyls, and these compounds have been shown both to degrade amino acids by carbonyl-amine reactions and to produce important food flavors. However, reactive carbonyls are not the only products of the lipid oxidation pathway. Lipid oxidation also produces free radicals. Nevertheless, the contribution of these lipid radicals to the production of food flavors by degradation of amino acid derivatives is mostly unknown. In an attempt to investigate new routes of flavor formation, this study describes the degradation of phenylalanine, phenylpyruvic acid, phenylacetaldehyde, and β-phenylethylamine in the presence of the 13-hydroperoxide of linoleic acid, 4-oxononenal (a reactive carbonyl derived from this hydroperoxide), and the mixture of both of them. The obtained results show the formation of phenylacetic acid and benzaldehyde in these reactions as a consequence of the combined action of carbonyl-amine and free radical reactions for amino acid degradation.