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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Food Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #320954
Research Project: Improved Processes for the Preservation and Utilization of Vegetables, Including Cucumber, Sweetpotato, Cabbage, and Peppers to Produce Safe, High Quality Products with Reduced Energy Use and Waste

Location: Food Science Research

Title: Development and validation of a near-infrared spectroscopy method for the prediction of acrylamide content in French-fried potato

Author
item ADEDIPE, OLUWATOSIN - North Carolina State University
item Johanningsmeier, Suzanne
item Truong, Van Den
item YENCHO, G. CRAIG - North Carolina State University

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/24/2016
Publication Date: 1/23/2016
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61990
Citation: Adedipe, O.E., Johanningsmeier, S.D., Truong, V., Yencho, G. 2016. Development and validation of a near-infrared spectroscopy method for the prediction of acrylamide content in French-fried potato. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 64:1850-1860. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5b04733.

Interpretive Summary: Acrylamide, a known neurotoxin and potential carcinogen, can be formed to varying degrees in carbohydrate rich foods subjected to high temperature processes such as frying. One of the most commonly consumed foods in this category is potato French fries. Efforts to reduce the acrylamide content in the food supply include breeding programs to select potato varieties that form less acrylamide during processing and development of processing technologies to prevent acrylamide formation. A rapid method for accurately predicting the concentration of acrylamide in potato French fries was developed using near-infrared spectroscopy. This method will enable breeding programs and process developers to screen hundreds of samples without the need for organic solvents and expensive, high maintenance, instrumentation required for the standard analysis of acrylamide in foods.

Technical Abstract: This study investigated the ability of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict acrylamide content in French-fried potato. Potato flour spiked with acrylamide (50-8000 µg/kg) was used to determine if acrylamide could be accurately predicted in a potato matrix. French fries produced with various pretreatments and cook times (n = 84) and obtained from quick service restaurants (n = 64) were used for model development and validation. Acrylamide was quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and reflectance spectra (400-2500 nm) of each freeze-dried sample were captured on a Foss XDS Rapid Content Analyzer-NIR spectrometer. Partial least-squares (PLS) discriminant analysis and PLS regression modeling demonstrated that NIRS could accurately detect acrylamide content as low as 50 µg/kg in the model potato matrix. Prediction errors of 135 µg/kg (R^2 = 0.98) and 255 µg/kg (R^2 = 0.93) were achieved with the best PLS models for acrylamide prediction in Russet Norkotah French-fried potato and multiple samples of unknown varieties, respectively. The findings indicate that NIRS can be used as a screening tool in potato breeding and potato processing research to reduce acrylamide in the food supply.