This review explains how Maillard chemistry, caramelization, ascorbic-acid degradation, and lipid-oxidation pathways interact across air frying, sous-vide, microwave, ohmic, infrared, radio-frequency, pressure-assisted, and hybrid cooking. Outcomes depend on food matrix and process conditions, not technology labels alone.
Key findings
- Non-enzymatic browning operates as a reaction network rather than an isolated Maillard pathway. Matrix properties redirect outcomes, and emerging technologies can improve sensory quality while creating digestibility, nutrient, and neoformed-compound trade-offs. Post-digestion evidence is identified as a major gap.
Why this matters globally
A matrix-dependent framework discourages blanket claims that one technology is always safer and supports evaluation of formulation, temperature, time, moisture, and realistic intake together.
Thai researcher contribution
A Walailak University-affiliated author contributed to an international synthesis spanning food technology, nutrition, and toxicology, providing a basis for regionally relevant experimental work.
Limitations to consider
This is a narrative review without pooled effects or certainty grading. Heterogeneous methods and matrices complicate direct comparison. Detecting a compound in food does not establish health risk without intake, bioavailability, and dose-response evidence.
Verify the original sources
eFoodRead the original article↗DOI: 10.1002/efd2.70192