Abstract:Methylglyoxal（MGO）is an intermediate product of the Maillard reaction and a product of glycolysis. In addition to the generation in the human body itself，MGO，produced from food，beverages，and food processing，accumulates in the body，which accumulation is often associated with various chronic diseases，such as diabetes，kidney disease，etc. This paper summarized the production and metabolism of MGO，toxicity mechanism，and research status of detoxification system.MGO directly or indirectly causes damage to mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum in the body，and activates related signaling pathways. It relies on glyoxalase system for detoxification in human body. Some natural chemical products can effectively remove exogenous MGO due to high anti-glycation ability，and are thus used in food systems to improve food safety. This paper also reviewed the research progress on MGO clearance by natural chemical products and compared their mechanism of inhibition，which provided a theoretical basis for the development of new MGO inhibitors.