Pyrazines: occurrence, formation and biodegradation

Pyrazines are a class of compounds that occur almost ubiquitously in nature. Pyrazines can be synthesised chemically or biologically, and are used as flavouring additives. The major formation of pyrazines occurs during heating of food. There is very little information available on the degradation of these compounds. In humans and animals, pyrazines are excreted as glucuronates or bound to glutathione via the kidney after hydroxylation, but the pyrazine ring is not cleaved. Bacteria have been isolated, which are able to use various substituted pyrazines as a sole carbon and energy source. In a few cases, the initial metabolites have been characterised; however, the mechanism of ring cleavage and the further degradation pathways are still unknown and await further investigation.