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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Food Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #298533
Title: Processing treatments for mitigating acrylamide formation in sweetpotato French fries

Author
item Truong, Van Den
item Pascua, Yvette
item Reynolds, Rong
item Thompson, Roger
item PALAZOGLU, KORAY - Mersin University
item MOGOL, BURCE - Hacettepe University
item GOKMEN, VURAL - Hacettepe University

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/15/2013
Publication Date: 1/8/2014
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/58454
Citation: Truong, V.D., Pascua, Y.T., Reynolds, R., Thompson, R.L., Palazoglu, K., Mogol, B., Gokmen, V. 2014. Processing treatments for mitigating acrylamide formation in sweetpotato French fries. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 62:310-316.

Interpretive Summary: Consumer demands for French fries processed from carotene-rich sweetpotatoes (SP) have increased in recent years. Many food companies have ventured into commercial production of sweetpotato French fries (SPFF) and have produced good product quality all year round from SP roots stored under appropriate conditions. However, aside from the quality, acrylamide formation in SPFF could be a potential health concern. We report the effect of processing and frying time on acrylamide formation in SPFF. Processing treatments including water blanching and soaking SP strips in sodium acid pyrophosphate before frying resulted in an 85-87% reduction of acrylamide levels in SPFF as compared with the cut-fry samples of the home preparation method. Therefore, acrylamide formation in SPFF can be reduced to less than 100 ppb, or several times lower than that of commercial potato French fries, by integrating common treatments in the vegetable processing industry.

Technical Abstract: Acrylamide formation in sweetpotato French fries (SPFF) is likely a potential health concern as there is an increasing demand for good-quality fries from carotene-rich sweetpotatoes (SP). This is the first report on acrylamide formation in SPFF as affected by processing methods. Acrylamide levels in SPFF from untreated SP strips fried at 165 °C for 2, 3, and 5 min were 124.9, 255.5, and 452.0 ng/g fresh weight, which were reduced by about 7 times to 16.3, 36.9, and 58.3 ng/g, respectively, when the strips were subjected to processing that included water blanching and soaking in 0.5% sodium acid pyrophosphate before frying. An additional step of strip soaking in 0.4% calcium chloride solution before par-frying increased the calcium content from 0.2 to 0.8 mg/g and decreased the acrylamide levels to 6.3, 17.6, and 35.4 ng/g, respectively. SPFF with acrylamide level of <100 ng/g or several times lower than that of white potato French fries can be obtained by integrating processing treatments commonly used in the food industry.