ISSN: 2574-2701
Authors: Mausumi R and Sunita Adhikari NP*
Acrylamide or 2-propenamide is an industrial chemical formed in some foods particularly starchy foods during heating
process such as baking, frying and roasting. Acrylamide is present in significant quantities in carbohydrate rich foods
such as Potato chips, French fries and Bakery products up to 7000 ppb followed by protein rich foods up to 400 ppb. In
general, deep fat fried potato products, roasted coffee beans and bakery products are the most important sources of
acrylamide. Acrylamide is proven to be carcinogenic in animals and a probable human carcinogen mainly formed in foods
by the reaction of asparagine (free amino acid) with reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) as part of the Maillard
reaction during heating under high temperature and low moisture conditions.
The possible strategies of acrylamide reduction were grouped into four categories i.e., selection of raw materials,
changing formulation and product composition without affecting the taste and preferences of consumers, pre-treatment
procedures and optimized processing conditions. The use of microbial L-asparaginase (LA) is one of the alternative
approaches for acrylamide reduction in food stuffs as it catalyzes the conversion of L-asparagine to L-aspartic acid and
ammonia.
Keywords:
Acrylamide; Asparagine; Glycine
