Acrylamide in industrial potato crisp manufacturing:a potential tool for its reduction

This paper considers the potential for identifying industrial manufacturing conditions that will lead to high acrylamide formation in potato crisp manufacture. Considering the available historical industrial processing data, initial tests were undertaken to identify the degree of variability and confidence in the data. Following data visualisation which indicated data ‘fingerprints’ characteristic of high acrylamide, Partial Least Squares (PLS) Discriminant Analysis (DA) was implemented to provide indications of the probability that high acrylamide product would be produced. It was determined that in a third of instances, high acrylamide could be predicted while maintaining a low level of false predictions. The predominance of fructose concentration in the prediction along with the need for asparagine were indicated and aligned well with prior literature mechanistic model indications. The ability to identify a third of high acrylamide occurrences provides the process operators with a good opportunity to make process modifications that would comply with increasingly stringent regulation

Effect of novel sequential soaking treatments on Maillard reaction products in potato and alternative vegetable crisps

Frying leads to the formation of numerous food contaminants through the Maillard reaction (MR). In this paper, commercially available vegetable crisps were analysed for and established to have high levels of acrylamide. Consequentially, the capability of two novel sequential pre-frying treatments were applied to potato, beetroot and parsnip snacks to inhibit the formation of acrylamide, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), glyoxal (GO) and methylglyoxal (MGO) was investigated. Data revealed that immersion in cold tap water for 2 min followed by blanching at 70 ± 2 °C for 2 min (Cold soak, hot soak, (CSHS)) as well as soaking in a 0.01M CaCl2 solution for 2 min followed by blanching at 70 ± 2 ⁰C in 0.1M citric acid for 2 min were both effective pre-treatments for potato crisps, simultaneously decreasing acrylamide concentration under the benchmark level of 750 μg/ kg and lowering GO content by 55.19 and 54.67% and MGO concentration by 39.17% and 81.62% , respectively. CSHS was the only efficient treatment for concurrent mitigation of acrylamide (-41.64%) and HMF (-88.43%) with little GO and MGO development in beetroot. Sequential cold soak in 0.01M calcium chloride and hot soak in a 0.1M citric acid solution has been effective in decreasing acrylamide in alternative crisps. However, this led to an increase in HMF, 30 and 20-fold respectively from the initial concentration. Data reveal that the tested mitigation strategies are vegetable specific

Effect of post-harvest anti-sprouting treatment with spearmint essential oil on acrylamide formation in potato crisps

The control of sprouts is essential to ensure quality of stored potatoes destined for the processing market. This paper investigates the effects of post-harvest treatment of tubers with spearmint essential oil (MEO) as sprouts suppressant, on both precursors of and acrylamide formation in potato crisps. Two trials were designed using two varieties of potato cultivars, to investigate the effect of a single MEO application over time and of one and two MEO applications compared to controls. A lower amount of reducing sugars was found in treated potatoes from both varieties after one day from treatment (Lady Claire: −26.8%; Taurus: −59.5%), which for Taurus tubers corresponded to lower acrylamide content in the crisps (−72.8%). Lower acrylamide levels were quantified in Lady Claire treated twice with MEO (−70.2%) and in controls (−59.6%) compared with potatoes treated once. Both trials demonstrate that treatment with MEO has no overall negative impact on acrylamide formation. Furthermore, no substantial change can be observed in the amino acidic and sugar profile of the tubers, which cannot be attributed to variability among tubers. These findings support the effective and safe use of MEO to control sprouting of potatoes destined to the processing market

Effect of ultrasound and additives treatment as mitigation strategies to reduce acrylamide formation in potato crisps on industrial scale

The aim of this work was to examine the applicability on large scale of additives and ultrasound treatments during soaking of potatoes before frying to mitigate the formation of acrylamide in potato crisps. Calcium chloride and citric acid were applied at laboratory scale in various concentrations and orders during washing before frying, to establish optimum conditions which were scaled up to pilot plant. Up to 91.0% reduction in acrylamide was obtained at laboratory scale. Both concentration and order of additives influenced the extent of the mitigation observed, with a higher concentration of additive in the second wash being beneficial. When upscaled to factory pilot plant, the reduction observed was not consistent across the three trials, with a 33.4% reduction in the first trial but no significant reduction in following studies. A 2-min ultrasound treatment was applied in two trials to test various powers and amplitudes, and washing combinations respectively. Up to 67.1% of acrylamide reduction was recorded after 2 min of ultrasound treatment in the cold wash followed by hot wash; however, ultrasound treatment was not effective in reducing acrylamide or its precursors when solely applied or when followed by cold wash under the tested conditions of duration and power

α-Dicarbonyl compounds trapping ability and antiglycative effect of high-molecular-weight brewer's spent grain melanoidins

Polyphenols participate in the Maillard reaction pathways scavenging α-dicarbonyl compounds (DCs) and contributing to the mitigation of carbonyl burden through dietary exposure/routes. The current study demonstrated the effectiveness of high-molecular-weight brewer's spent grain melanoidins (HMW-BSGM) in reacting with DCs in an in vitro model system. HMW-BSGM (4 mg/mL) quenched more than 95% of glyoxal and methylglyoxal, and more than 80% of 2,3-butanedione after a 7-day incubation at 37 °C. Among tested polyphenols, sinapic acid showed the highest trapping capacity with inhibition rates of 33.1, 49.1 and 49.3% for glyoxal, methylglyoxal and 2,3-butanedione because of hydroxyalkylation reaction as revealed by liquid chromatography high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry experiments. The formation of free fluorescent AGEs was substantially hindered (79.3%) by HMW-BSGM (4 mg/mL). These findings corroborate the hypothesis that the accumulation of polyphenols in melanoidins skeleton can hinder undesired effects and potentially harmful reactions involving α-dicarbonyl compounds

Operational considerations for hot-washing in potato crisp manufacture

As part of an overall programme aimed at reducing the acrylamide content of crisps, this paper explores the impact of hot-washing on potato slice sugar concentration during industrial scale manufacture. We investigated cold-washing as an alternative to hot-washing, hot-wash residence time and temperature to optimise sugar removal and therefore reduce the potential for high acrylamide levels after frying. Due to the variable nature of potatoes, an extensive variability study was performed to determine confidence boundaries of results. It was found that the cold-wash unit removed on average 21% of the initial sugar content. In the hot-wash the current operational residence time of 3.5 minutes at 70oC gave a sugar reduction of 27.5%, which could be increased to 48.5% if residence time is extended to 5 minutes. Hot-wash temperatures of 40oC - 60oC were found to increase glucose and fructose content and therefore the potential for acrylamide formation. A “double cold-wash” was trialled and proved to be as successful as hot-washing at 70oC for all but the highest sugar potatoes, challenging the current operational process and offering the potential for major energy savings

Fryer control strategy improvement:towards acrylamide reduction in crisp manufacture

This paper describes research efforts to improve the operation of industrial scale crisp fryers to ensure that product quality targets are exceeded. The work described was undertaken within a project whose aim is to minimise the acrylamide formation arising during processing operations. The existing fryer temperature control scheme was found to be sub-optimal from an acrylamide perspective and involved considerable operator intervention, particularly at fryer start-up. A new temperature control system was designed and implemented to overcome the shortcomings of the existing strategy. Fryer temperature and crisp moisture were regulated effectively through gas flow and dwell time modifications. Interactions between loops were compensated for and start-up was automated to reduce the impact of operator-to-operator variation. The resulting scheme was found to deliver much-improved temperature control which will lead to a resultant decrease in acrylamide formation

Development of a nutritious cereal-based instant porridge by the incorporation of protein-rich insect powder - an example from Zimbabwe

Maize in Zimbabwe lacks essential nutrients like protein, iron, and zinc. This study explored alternative ingredients, including climate smart cereals used in porridge, to address this issue. A fortified porridge was developed by adding mopane worm powder, known for its high protein content. Consumer analysis in the UK and Zimbabwe confirmed acceptability of the fortified porridge. The study also assessed the nutritional quality by examining protein, iron, and zinc bioaccessibility after digestion. Results showed a significant increase in the porridge's nutritional profile. A 20 kg child consuming a 50 g portion of the fortified porridge had a potential 230 % increase in protein uptake and 164 % and 109 % increases in iron and zinc uptake, respectively. Acknowledging dietary diversity and use of local raw materials, the study concludes that food-to-food fortification offers a recommended and sustainable solution to address food security challenges in sub-Saharan African nations

Development of an analytical method to derive hydrophobicity parameters for use as descriptors for the prediction of the environmental and human health risk of chemicals

There is a requirement to assess the safety of chemicals to both 'man' and the environment. Traditionally this was determined through the use of animal testing. However, there is an increased need to develop alternatives to animal testing for the determination of toxicity due to ethical and legislative reasons. One approach to replacing the use of animals is the application of computational methods. These include Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships ((Q)SARs), which are the formalisation of the relationship of the effects (e.g. toxicity) for a series of chemicals and their physico-chemical and structural properties. Most QSARs for toxicity require knowledge of a chemicals hydrophobicity. Traditionally hydrophobicity has been characterised by the logarithm of the octanol/water partition coefficient (log P). Current experimental and predictive methods are limited in terms of applicability for compounds with extreme log P values, compounds ionised under the conditions of analysis and surface active agents. An alternative technique to assess hydrophobicity is Immobilised Artificial Membrane High Performance Liquid Chromatography (IAM-HPLC). The IAM stationary phase was developed initially to mimic biological membranes more realistically than octanol/water partitioning. This study has collated published literature values for the IAM retention index (kIAM), including details of the experimental procedure, into a database. The database includes 1910 values for 647 compounds. The effect of variability of experimental procedure on reported values was investigated. Key experimental parameters were identified that ensure comparable log kIAM values. An IAM-HPLC method was optimised; the HPLC method covers a range of hydrophobicities (log P of -1.35 to 6.03) and includes both unionised and ionised compounds under the conditions of analysis. Additionally the method has been demonstrated to be robust across system of analysis, column and stationary phase batch. The assessment of robustness increases confidence in the log kIAM (pH 7.4) values for 66 aliphatic and aromatic compounds determined as part of this work. Methods to predict log klAM (pH 7.4) were investigated. Both a fragment and correction factor method, based on theoretical structural features, and a 'classical' descriptor based QSAR approach, was applied to both the experimental log kIAM (pH 7.4) values determined in this work and comparable values collated from the literature. QSARs have been developed using log klAM as a descriptor to predict the ability of a chemical to cross the skin barrier and to predict various acute aquatic toxicity endpoints, using published skin absorption and ecotoxicity data respectively.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo