快猫短视频s have discovered how the potentially cancer-causing chemical acrylamide is formed in baked foods such as crisps and breakfast cereals. The discovery could lead to ways of reducing levels of the chemical in food, they say.
High levels of acrylamide in some baked foods were first identified by a Swedish team in April, leading to widespread concern. Based on the results of animal studies, the chemical is classified as a probable carcinogen by the WHO. But its health effects on people are not known.
Donald Mottram and colleagues working in flavour chemistry at the University of Reading, UK, suspected that a reaction involving an amino acid called asparagine could be key. Asparagine is present in high quantities in many plant-based foods, including cereals and potato.
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鈥淲hen you look at the structure of asparagine and compare it with acrylamide, it seemed to us it asparagine could be involved through something called the Maillard reaction,鈥� Mottram told 快猫短视频.
The Maillard reaction occurs when amino acids and sugars are heated together. It is responsible for much of the colour and flavour of cooked foods.
Boiling and baking
Sure enough, when Mottram鈥檚 team heated asparagine with any of a number of sugars to above about 100掳C, large amounts of acrylamide were formed. Further research with other amino acids did not result in significant acrylamide creation.
A team working independently at the Nestl茅 Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland have also reached the same conclusions.
Not all forms of cooking involve heating to over 100掳C, Mottram points out. Boiling potatoes should create less acrylamide than roasting them, for example. 鈥淎nd in baking bread, the centre of the bread does not reach 100掳C,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou would only really get acrylamide in the crusts 鈥� but they鈥檙e the tastiest part.鈥�
It might be possible to reduce levels of acrylamide in cooked foods by finding and using strains of potato with a low asparagine content, Mottram says. Or by identifying other ingredients that might modify the Maillard reaction during baking.
Flavour saver
But this reaction is crucial for flavour and taste. 鈥淭here may be ways of moderating production of acrylamide but if we did, we might inhibit flavour and colour formation,鈥� he says.
Until further research identifies the health risk of eating baked plant-based foods, people should not specifically avoid them, Mottram thinks.
鈥淲hat is important is to get a balanced diet,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e need more evidence of how much acrylamide is present in cereals, for example 鈥� and we need to balance the health benefits of eating these foods, as well as potential negative effects.鈥�
Journal reference: Nature (vol 419, p 448, 449)