Impact of thermal processing on levels of acrylamide in a wheat‐lentil flour matrix

Abstract

A growing demand for plant-based protein has seen a resurgence in the utilisation of pulses such as lentil and chickpea as a protein-rich substrate to produce food products traditionally based on animal or cereal protein. Additionally, pulses offer metabolic benefits due to the bioactivity of compounds including phenolic acids, simple and complex carbohydrates and a more complete amino-acid profile which is not found in cereal grains. However, there is an increasing concern in the formation of acrylamide in food which occurs when asparagine, an abundant amino acid found in pulses, forms a complex with the reducing sugars; glucose, fructose, and maltose.Recent studies in animal models have shown that acrylamide is carcinogenic and therefore is a concern for humans. High levels of acrylamide have been reported particularly in fried products, primarily due to the Maillard reaction which amplifies the formation of acrylamide. This study investigated the levels of acrylamide in bread, cookies, and extruded products prepared with wheat-lentil composite flour. Our research found that extrusion resulted in a significantly lower concentration of acrylamide compared to traditional baking. Additionally, increasing the amount of lentil within the composite significantly increased the net concentration of acrylamide for all bread, cookies and extrudate products.

Adding pulse flours to cereal‐based snacks and bakery products: An overview of free asparagine quantification methods and mitigation strategies of acrylamide formation in foods

“…A significant stage before analytical techniques is sample preparation, and various extraction procedures can be used for this purpose, including liquid–liquid extraction, solid‐phase extraction, and microextraction techniques (Nematollahi et al., 2019). For acrylamide quantification, chromatography‐based methods coupled with different detectors have been used (Galani et al., 2017; Portman et al., 2021), while the LC–MS/MS is the most favored method (Bartkiene et al., 2013; Palermo et al., 2012; Tekkeli et al., 2012). Alternative techniques, such as atomic absorption spectrometry, capillary electrophoresis, immunological methods (ELISA), and biosensors, are uncommonly used due to their low selectivity and expensive procedures (Taeymans et al., 2004).…”

“…Results indicated that acrylamide induces oxidative stress and further causes abnormal distribution of organelles, aberrant histone modifications, and DNA damage. Investigations using animal models reported that 2 mg/kg body weight/day of acrylamide is sufficient to induce cancer in rats (Portman et al., 2021).…”

“…The ASN α‐amino group reacts with the reducing sugars’ carbonyl group to form an intermediate product—a Schiff base—which undergoes decarboxylation to form a decarboxylated Schiff base (Rifai & Saleh, 2020). Two potential pathways are responsible for forming acrylamide: the direct formation of acrylamide from a decarboxylated Schiff base or a hydrolysis process that forms 3‐aminopropionamide, which is then decomposed into acrylamide (Halford et al., 2022; Portman et al., 2021). However, the Maillard reaction is the first feasible route to reduce food acrylamide formation.…”

“…Miśkiewicz et al (2012) demonstrated that cookies obtained from the blending of wheat and chickpea flour (1:1, w/w) reduced acrylamide by 86% (5.7 μg/kg) compared to those derived from 100% wheat flour (41.9 μg/kg). Moreover, research focused on the levels of acrylamide in extruded products made with a combination of wheat and lentil flour found that extrusion processing resulted in significantly reduced acrylamide concentrations as compared to traditional baking methods using wheat flours (Portman et al, 2021). Schouten et al (2022) examined the influence of legume flours with intact and damaged cell walls on acrylamide formation in biscuits during baking.…”

Screening of Acrylamide Content in Commercial Plant-Based Protein Ingredients from Different Technologies

“…To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the content of acrylamide in PBPIs and their derived products has not been investigated yet. Moreover, only few reports are available considering legume-based products [ 24 , 25 ]. The various technological processing methods used in PBPIs production [ 20 , 23 , 26 , 27 ] may cause stresses to the raw materials, influencing the formation of AA.…”