Reduction of acrylamide formation in French fries by microwave pre‐cooking of potato strips

In this study, the effect of microwave pre‐cooking of potato strips on the resultant acrylamide levels in French fries was investigated. Control and microwaved (10, 20, and 30 s at 850 W) samples were fried at 150, 170 and 190 °C for predetermined times. Surface and core temperatures of potato strips were acquired during frying, and acrylamide content in the surface and the core regions were determined separately. The results showed that microwave application prior to frying resulted in a marked reduction of acrylamide level in the surface region, whereas a slight increase was noted for the core region. When the potato strips were subjected to frying after a microwave pre‐cooking step, acrylamide content in the whole potato strip was reduced by 36%, 41%, and 60% for frying at 150, 170, and 190 °C, respectively, in comparison to the control. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Analysis of furan in foods. Is headspace sampling a fit-for-purpose technique?

Headspace GC-MS has been opitimized for the determination of furan in foods. The conditions of sample preparation, headspace sampling and GC separation were optimized to enhance sensitivity during GC-MS analysis. Green coffee was used to prepare a matrix matched calibration curve for furan. However, it was unexpectedly found that a green coffee sample was not blank. GC-MS analysis performed after equilibration for 30 min at 40°C showed the presence of 4.2 ng/g furan in green coffee. In order to understand whether furan was naturally present or formed during headspace sampling, green coffee was investigated in time-dependent manner at headspace equilibration temperatures of 40 and 70°C. It was observed that furan response continued to increase in a way similar to first order formation kinetics. The same behavior was found for freshly squeezed tomato and orange juices leading to the suspicion of furan formation during headspace equilibration. It is concluded that a matrix matched calibration for each particular food matrix is necessary to compensate for furan formation during headspace sampling, and thus, to quantify furan more accurately.     

Effects of some cations on the formation of acrylamide and furfurals in glucose–asparagine model system

A recent patent application and some other studies showed that there is a relation between acrylamide formation and cations. In fact, to date, there is no concrete evidence on the formation or elimination of some compounds in foods and current hypotheses are based only on observations in model systems. To find that this is a logical explanation, we conducted a series of experiments, to show (i) the formation and the elimination of acrylamide with the addition of some cations, and (ii) the formation of hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural in a glucose–asparagine model system. The results indicated that the presence of cations reduced acrylamide formation, but increased hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural formation during heating. There was strong evidence that the cations effectively prevented the formation of Schiff base, which is the key intermediate leading to acrylamide, and mainly changed the reaction path toward the dehydration of glucose leading to hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural.     

Study of acrylamide in coffee using an improved liquid chromatography mass spectrometry method: Investigation of colour changes and acrylamide formation in coffee during roasting

An improved analytical method for the determination of acrylamide in coffee is described using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometric detection (LC-MS). A variety of instant, ground and laboratory roasted coffee samples were analysed using this method. The sample preparation entails extraction of acrylamide with methanol, purification with Carrez I and II solutions, evaporation and solvent change to water, and clean-up with an Oasis HLB solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge. The chromatographic conditions allowed separation of acrylamide and the remaining matrix co-extractives with accurate and precise quantification of acrylamide during MS detection in SIM mode. Recoveries for the spiking levels of 50, 100, 250 and 500 µg/kg ranged between 99 and 100% with relative standard deviations of less than 2%. The effects of roasting on the formation of acrylamide and colour development were also investigated at 150, 200 and 225°C. Change in the CIE (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage) a* colour value was found to show a good correlation with the change in acrylamide. CIE a* and acrylamide data was fitted to a non-linear logarithmic function for the estimation of acrylamide level in coffee. Measured acrylamide levels in commercial roasted coffees compared well with the predicted acrylamide levels from the CIE a* values.     

Interference-free determination of acrylamide in potato and cereal-based foods by a laboratory validated liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method

A simple and rapid method was developed and validated for the determination of acrylamide in potato and cereal-based foods by using a single quadrupole liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) interfaced with positive atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI+). Acrylamide was simply extracted with 0.01 mM acetic acid in a vortex mixer prior to LC–MS analysis. The applicability of validated method was shown for a wide range of processed foods including chips, fries, crisps, breads, biscuits and cookies. The mean recovery was found to be 99.7 with a repeatability of 1.8% in the range 100–1000 ng/g. During LC–MS analyses, the major interfering co-extractive was identified as valine which yields characteristic [M + H]⁺ and compound specific product ions having m/z of 118 and 72, respectively. Valine increased the baseline signal preventing accurate and precise quantitation, and resulted in poorer sensitivity in selected ion monitoring mode. The adverse effect of valine could be limited by instrumentally adjusted delay time or by solid-phase extraction with strong cation-exchanger sorbent.     

Acrylamide formation is prevented by divalent cations during the Maillard reaction

The effects of mono- and divalent cations on the formation of acrylamide were studied in a fructose-asparagine model system at 150 and 180 °C. At amounts equivalent to those of asparagine and fructose, added divalent cations, such as Ca²⁺, were found to prevent acrylamide formation completely, whereas monovalent cations, such as Na⁺, almost halved the acrylamide formed in the model system. It was confirmed by mass spectrometric analyses of pyrolyzates that the formation of the Schiff base of asparagines, which is the key intermediate leading to acrylamide, was prevented by the cations. Meanwhile, the reaction proceeded to form brown coloured products. Dipping potatoes into calcium chloride solution inhibited the formation of acrylamide by up to 95% during frying. The sensory quality of fried potato strips, in terms of golden yellow colour and crispy texture, was not adversely affected by this treatment.     

Computer vision-based image analysis for the estimation of acrylamide concentrations of potato chips and french fries

In this study, digital colour images of fried potato chips and french fries were analyzed to estimate acrylamide levels based on the correlation with analyses using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. In fried potato images, bright yellow (Region 1), yellowish brown (Region 2) and darker brown (Region 3) regions were clearly visible, having different kinds of image pixels with characteristic mean values of red, green and blue components. Pixels of the fried potato image were classified into three sets (Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3) by means of semi-automatic and automatic segmentation. There was a strong correlation between acrylamide concentration and NA2 value, which is defined as the number of pixels in Set 2 divided by the total number of pixels of the entire fried potato image. To verify the applicability of this approach, a linear regression equation was used to estimate the acrylamide concentrations of a number of commercial potato chips and home-made french fries. Mean differences between the measured and predicted acrylamide concentrations were found to be +4 ± 14% and −14 ± 24% for commercial potato chips and home-made french fries, respectively.     

Study of colour and acrylamide formation in coffee,wheat flour and potato chips during heating

The effects of heating on colour generation measured as CIE colour space parameters of L* a* b* and acrylamide formation were studied in various food matrices including green coffee, wheat flour and potato chips at different temperatures. Changes in both the acrylamide concentration and the redness parameter a* during heating at relatively higher temperatures followed a typical kinetic pattern in which an initial increase to an apparent maximum followed by a subsequent decrease was observed. The similarities between the changes in acrylamide and redness parameter a* during heating revealed that colour may be a reliable indicator of acrylamide levels in thermally processed foods. The overall results suggest that both acrylamide and redness parameter a* form as intermediate products during Maillard reaction. Since an apparent decrease was observed in its level during prolonged heating at certain temperatures, prediction of acrylamide level in foods during processing should be based on realistic reaction mechanism, instead of simple linear regression model.