Overview of Acrylamide, one of the most hazardous ingredients and a by- product present in potato chips. Study of the effect of some pretreatments, viz. soaking in Calcium chloride and Citric acid on Acrylamide formation in potato chips. Tentative procedure for the detection of Acrylamide via Soxhlet extraction.

1. Detection of Acrylamide & effect of
pre-treatments on Acrylamide
concentration in Potato Chips
Presented By-
Meesha Singh

3. Abstract
• Overview of Acrylamide, one of the most hazardous
ingredients and a by- product present in potato chips.
• Study of the effect of some pretreatments, viz. soaking in
Calcium chloride and Citric acid on Acrylamide formation in
potato chips.
• Tentative procedure for the detection of Acrylamide via
Soxhlet extraction.

4. Introduction
Acrylamide
• low molecular weight vinylic compound.
• colorless, odorless crystalline substance.
• highly water soluble, easily reactive in air.
• rapidly polymerizable. (Besaratinia and Pfeifer, 2007)
First reported in cooked foods in 2002 (Tareke et al., 2002)

5. Starchy foods >100°C Asparagine+ Reducing sugars
Maillard Reaction
Acrylamide

6. • Maillard reaction generates acrylamide (Mottram et al., 2002
and Stadler et al., 2002 ).
• Acrylamide does not only form in industrially manufactured
foods, but also foods prepared at home are concerned.
(Glese 2002).
• Baked chips also contain significant amount of Acrylamide.
It can be found in:
• Potatoes: chips, French fries, and other roasted or fried potato
foods
• Grains: bread crust, toast, crisp bread, roasted breakfast
cereals, and various processed snacks
• Coffee: roasted coffee beans and ground coffee powder.

7. Factors affecting Acrylamide formation
• Effect of Raw Materials: variety, harvest year, fertilization
and storage conditions.
• Effect of Additives: Asparaginase can reduce acrylamide
formation in foods.
• Effect of Processing Conditions: heating temperature and
time, blanching and frying.
• Effect of pH: low pH reduces acrylamide content during
frying and baking.
• Effect of water activity: below 0.8.
• Effect of Fermentation: Prolonged fermentation time (at least
an hour)

8. • Carcinogenic
• Potentially neurotoxigenic
• Skin irritant
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Olesen et al., (2008) reported that there was a positive
association between acrylamide-hemoglobin levels and
estrogen receptor positive breast cancer.
• Potato chips are notoriously high in this dangerous chemical.
Acrylamide: Health hazards

9. Process flowchart
Sample
collection
Sample
extraction
Pretreatments
Proximal
analysis
HPLC
Sensory
analysis

10. Sample collection
• Several varieties of potato chips can
be purchased from the market.
• Lay’s ®, Pringles ®, Uncle Chipps etc. are some of the famous
brands in India.
Sample extraction
• 20 g of finely ground sample
• Placed in an extraction thimble
• Inside the Soxhlet extractor
• Defatted with 75 ml of pentane for 12 hours

11. Pretreatments
• CaCl2: 1 and 2 % concentration
• Citric acid: 0.5 and 1% concentration
Soaking for (30 and 60 min) for each concentration
After soaking peel the slices for 10 min.

12. Proximal analysis
• Moisture content: by drying in an oven to obtain by weighing
the samples before and after drying.
• Ash content: by weighing the samples before and after
burning.
• Total nitrogen and crude protein content: by Macro
Kjeldhal method.
• Total carbohydrate content:
Total carbohydrates (% fresh weight) =
{100- moisture (%) - protein content (% fresh weight) - crude
fat (% fresh weight) - ash (% fresh weight)}

13. HPLC
Extraction:
• 5 g of crushed sample
• Mixed with 50 ml of distilled water.
• Shaking at 100 rpm for 30 min
• Centrifuged at 9000 rpm at 4ºC for 30min.
• Transfer the supernatant into a 100 ml separating funnel
• Allowed to stand for 20 min to allow the aqueous and lipid
layer to separate.
• Aqueous layer was removed and used for determination of
acrylamide

14. HPLC conditions:
• Column flow rate: 1 ml/min.
• Wavelength: 230 nm.
• Column temp: 25 ºC

15. Sensory analysis
• Organoleptic evaluation of fried samples.
• Performed by a semi-trained panel of judges using ten-point
hedonic-scale ratings for product texture and taste.
• Product sourness, saltiness and bitterness was evaluated.
• Each of these descriptors was evaluated using a continuous
line scale with five anchor points, being
Scale Result
0 Absent
2.5 Slightly present
5.0 Moderately present
7.5 Strongly present
10 Very strongly
present

16. Results & Discussion
• Control chips contain very high Acrylamide content compared
to those soaked in CaCl2 and citric acid.
• According to Acar et al., 2012, pretreatment of potato chips
with CaCl2 reduces the Acrylamide content upto 7%.
• Mestdagh et al., 2008 found that by use of organic acids, such
as citric and acetic acid, final Acrylamide content is reduced.
• From these results we can select the best pretreatments which
reduce the Acrylamide concentration.

17. Acrylamide Is Not the Only Danger!
A few of the most well-known toxins created in high-
temperature cooking include:
• Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs): carcinogenic.
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs): carcinogenic.
• Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs): lead to
oxidative stress, inflammation, heart disease, diabetes and
kidney disease.

18. Future scope
The Search for ‘Healthful’ Chips Continues...
Reducing acrylamide in food products while protecting other
quality aspects and reducing dietary acrylamide exposure still
remains a major challenge.
 Silencing of asparagine synthase genes limits asparagine
biosynthesis in potato tubers. (Pearson et al., 2012)
 It is necessary to either store tubers at higher temperatures
(7–10 °C). (Brathon and Schrader, 2013)

20. References
• Acar, O. C., Pollio M., Monaco R. D., Fogliano V. and Gokmen V. (2012)
Effect of Calcium on Acrylamide Level and Sensory Properties of Cookies.
Food Bioprocess Technol (2012) 5:519–526.
• Allan, S. (2002) Acrylamide angst, another annoying distraction about food
safety. (Electronic version). Agrochemical and Environmental News
Issue,October,No.198.from:http:/www.envirofacs.org/Acrylamide%20Angs
t.pdf.
• Amado, R. (2003) Potential of acrylamide formation, sugars and free
asparagine in potatoes: a comparison of cultivars and farming systems. J
Agric Food Chem 51:5556–5560.
• Becalski, A.; Lau, B. P.; Lewis, D. and Seaman, S.W., (2003) Acrylamide
in foods: occurrence, sources and modeling, J. Agric. Food Chem., 51:802-
808.
• Biedermann, M., Noti, A., Biedermann-Brem, S., Mozzetti, V. and Grob, K.
(2002) Experiments on acrylamide formation and possibilities to decrease
the potential of acrylamide formation in potatoes. Mitt. Geb. Lebensm
Unters Hyg; 93:668–687.

21. • Kita, A., Brathen, E., Knutsen, S. H., and Wicklund, T. (2004) Effective
ways of decreasing acrylamide content in potato crisps during processing.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 52, 7011– 7016.
• Mestdagh, F., Wilde, D., Delporte T., Peteghem K.V. and Meulenaer C., D.
(2008b) Impact of chemical pre-treatments on the acrylamide formation
and sensorial quality of potato crisps. Food Chemistry, 106, 914–922
• Mottram, D. S.; Wedzicha, B. L. and Dodson, A.T. (2002) Acrylamide is
formed in the Maillard reaction. Nature 419:448–449.
• Olesen, P.T., Olsen, A., Frandsen, H., Frederiksen, K., Overvad, K. And
Tjonneland, A. (2008) Acrylamide exposure and incidence of breast cancer
among postmenopausal women in the Danish diet, cancer and health study.
International Journal of Cancer, 122(9): 2094-2100.
• Stadler, R., Blank, I.; Varga, N., Robert, F., Hau, J., Guy, P., Robert, P. and
Riediker, S. (2002) Acrylamide from Maillard reaction products. Nature
419:449.

22. THANK YOU!