Evaluation of radical products from β-alanine/sugar mixtures by use of GC-MS with the galvinoxyl radical

We have quantified the radical production of Maillard systems with beta-alanine and different sugars by a method that uses the free radical scavenger capacity of galvinoxyl (2,6-di-tert-butyl-alpha-(3,5-ditert-butyl-4-oxo-2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-ylidene)-p-tolyloxy) and a GC-MS separation and quantification. We have compared the results with the spectrophotometrical conclusions and highlight the importance of the radical production in the Maillard systems. The method is precise (CV < 5%), accurate (> 97%), sensitive (limit of detection 10 ng/mL galvinoxyl), and may be used for the detection and quantification of radical activity in the chemical and biological systems.