Food-derived protein hydrolysates/peptides and saccharides are valuable and exploitable food resources. Covalent complexes formed by the Maillard reaction of food-derived protein hydrolysates/peptides and saccharides are superior in their structure and nutritional functions. Therefore, the Maillard reaction has been widely used to improve the functional characteristics of protein hydrolysates, and has currently become a hot spot in the field of food research. This article reviews the sources of raw materials for and the mechanism of the Maillard reaction between food-derived protein hydrolysates/peptides and saccharides and the preparation methods, structural characteristics, functional properties, nutritional and biological activities of the Maillard reaction products as well as their current applications and future prospects in the fields of food and medicine. This review provides a new idea for the development of functional food products based on the Maillard reaction between food-derived protein hydrolysates/peptides and saccharides, and provides a theoretical basis to explore their health effects in the future.

The differences in quality properties between 40 major oil and feed soybean varieties in four major production areas of China were analyzed. Ten key quality indexes of soybean for each purpose were determined. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were carried out, and a model was proposed using combination weighting method in order to select the quality characteristics of soybeans for different purposes and the superior soybean production areas and varieties. Significant differences in all quality properties except color, odor and carbohydrate content were found among varieties and production areas (P < 0.01 or P < 0.001). In the PCA, crude fat content, vitamin E (VE) content, impurity content, damage ratio, moisture content, and phospholipid content were extracted by factor analysis as key quality characteristics of oil soybean. For feed soybean, seven key quality characteristics including 7S/11S protein, protein dissolution ratio, crude fat content, protein content, impurity content, damage ratio, and soybean isoflavone content were identified. Using the proposed model, top 10 oil and feed soybean varieties with the highest comprehensive score and their major production areas were selected. Using cluster analysis, the oil and feed soybeans were assigned into five and nine groups with similar quality characteristics, respectively. This study provides a theoretical basis for quality evaluation of soybeans from different major production areas in China and specialty soybean variety selection.