Nutritional quality changes and non-enzymatic browning reactions in corn during hot-air drying and their correlation...

This study investigated changes in corn nutritional quality and non-enzymatic browning indicators during hot-air drying, aiming to investigate the correlation between temperature-driven nutritional quality changes and non-enzymatic browning reactions. Results indicated that as drying temperature and time increased, the content of nutrients such as starch, reducing sugars, and total phenols significantly decreased. Compared with fresh corn, the loss rate of reducing sugars reached as high as 54.14% at 90 °C. With rising temperature, non-enzymatic browning reactions intensified. This is primarily manifested by the accumulation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, a decrease in fluorescence intensity, reductions in L^⁎ and b^⁎, and increases in a^⁎ and color difference values. Significant correlations were observed between non-enzymatic browning reaction indicators and nutritional quality indicators, indicating a tightly coupled relationship between these two sets of parameters. This study provides a theoretical basis for improving the drying quality of corn and has practical significance for the corn processing industry.