Acrylamide in food products

Abstract

Acrylamide (AA, 2-propenamide) is a color less and odourless crystalline produced by the hydration of acrylonitrile. It dissolves in water, alcohol, and other polar solvents, but tends to be hydrolyzed into acrylic acid in an acidic and alkali environment (Hu et al., 2015). The highest concentrations of AA usually occur in potato chips, French fries, biscuits and roasted coffee EFSA (2015). However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified the AA as a probable human carcinogen (group 2A) (IARC, 1994). fried potato products (French fries, chips, etc.) are highly susceptible to AA formation due to asparagine and reducing sugars content as well as the high temperatures applied during the frying process and the high surface to volume ratio (Parker et al., 2012). The principal strategies proposed to reduce AA in potato products are the selection of cultivar and storage conditions, the control of time and temperature of heat treatment, the application of different frying techniques (e.g. under vacuum), the use of asparaginase enzyme and hot water blanching as pre-treatments (Vincin et al., 2011).