Influence Factors on the Formation of Acrylamide in the Amino Acid/Sugar Chemical Model System

Acrylamide, a potential carcinogen and neurotoxin, could be formed during the heat processing of carbohydrate-rich foods under high temperatures. Maillard reaction between reducing sugars and amino acids is the main pathway to form acrylamide. All of the types of reducing sugars and amino acids as well as the addition of vitamins may influence the formation of acrylamide. To explore the influence of reducing sugars, amino acids and the addition of vitamins on acrylamide formation, different chemical model systems were designed and studied in this work. The results showed that the largest amount of acrylamide was produced in the asparagine/glucose model system. L-glycine, L-glutamic acid and L-cysteine caused different levels of reduction in the amounts of acrylamide produced in the asparagine/glucose model systems. Vitamin C and Vitamin B1 strongly reduced the formation of acrylamide by more than 60% at the appropriate adding dosage of approximately 1%, whereas Vitamin B2 and Vitamin B5 only reduced the formation of acrylamide by 20-30% at the adding dosage of approximately 1%. However, Vitamin B2 promoted the formation of acrylamide at adding dosages greater than 1%.