Key factors influencing the formation of α-dicarbonyls and dietary advanced glycation end products in bread and commercial bakery products: Impacts of sugar, lipid and gluten protein

α-Dicarbonyls and dietary advanced glycation end products (dAGEs) are potentially harmful compounds formed from the Maillard reaction. Bakery products often contain high levels of α-dicarbonyls and dAGEs due to thermal processing. Additionally, the ingredients used in dough might significantly influence the formation of these compounds. Our findings indicated that adding sucrose notably increased the formation of α-dicarbonyls and methylglyoxal-derived dAGEs in bread, while the incorporation of butter and olive oil had negligible effects. In contrast, substituting high-gluten flour with medium- and low-gluten flour reduced the formation of α-dicarbonyls and dAGEs in bread. Furthermore, correlation analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between total dAGEs content and total sugar content in commercial bakery products, with no significant correlation found with total protein and fat content. This study suggests that the sugar content listed on nutrition labels could serve as a practical indicator for estimating dAGE levels in bakery products.