Effects of calcium supplements on the quality and acrylamide content of puffed shrimp chips

Effect of Oat Fiber Preparations with Different Contents of β-Glucan on the Formation of Acrylamide in Dietary Bread (Rusks)

In the literature, there are few reports indicating hydrocolloids as a factor capable of reducing the amount of acrylamide formed in food. Therefore, the aim of the study was to examine the ability of soluble oat fiber to reduce the amount of acrylamide formed in the process of obtaining rusks. The effect of the concentration of β-glucans in oat fiber preparations at 20% and 30% and the amount of preparations used at 10%, 15%, and 20% was investigated. On the basis of the obtained test results, it was shown that the most optimal concentration of oat fiber preparation in rusks recipe is at 15%, regardless of the content of β-glucan in it. This concentration makes it possible to reduce the amount of acrylamide formed in baked goods and rusks by ~70% and ~60%, respectively, while maintaining the desired physical and chemical properties of the product. In addition, it was shown that the browning index and water activity strongly correlate with the content of acrylamide in rusks, which makes them good markers of this compound in rusks. The use of hydrocolloids in the form of oat fiber preparations with different contents of β-glucan as a tool for reducing the amount of acrylamide in rusks, at the same time, offers the possibility of enriching these products with a soluble dietary fiber with health properties.

Acrylamide toxicity in aquatic animals and its mitigation approaches: an updated overview

Acrylamide (ACR) is widely applied in various industrial activities, as well as in the water purification process. Furthermore, ACR is synthesized naturally in some starchy grains exposed to high temperatures for an extended time during the cooking process. Because of its widespread industrial usage, ACR might be released into water stream sources. Also, ACR poses a high risk of contaminated surface and ground-water resources due to its high solubility and mobility in water. Furthermore, animal studies have indicated that ACR exposure may cause cancer (in many organs such as lung, prostate, uterus, and pancreas), genetic damage (in both somatic and germ cells), and severe effects on reproduction and development. Recently, numerous studies have shown that ACR has a mild acute cytotoxic impact on aquatic species, particularly during early life stages. Besides, wide-spectrum usage of ACR in many industrial activities presented higher environmental risks as well as major hazards to consumer health. This literature was designed to include all potential and accessible reports on ACR toxicity related with aquatic species. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews were applied to evaluate the risk effects of ACR on aquatic organisms, the ACR sub-lethal concentration in the ecosystem, and the possible protective benefits of various feed additives against ACR toxicity in fish. The major findings are summarized in Tables 2 and 3. The primary aim of this literature was to specify the hazards of ACR toxicity related with fish welfare and possible suggested strategies to reduce its risks.

Fortification of puffed biscuits with chitin and crayfish shell: Effect on physicochemical property and starch digestion

Chitin is a polysaccharide and possesses numerous beneficial properties such as nontoxicity, biodegradability and biocompatibility, which draws much attention to its applications in food. Crayfish shell is a source of chitin alongside an antioxidants and a potential source of beneficial dietary fiber. In this study, chitin (CH) and crayfish shell (CS) with different concentrations were used to study their impact on pasting characteristics of flour mixture (wheat flour and glutinous rice flour) and influence on physicochemical and starch digestion property of puffed biscuit. The Rapid Visco-Analyzer results showed that the viscosity of powder mixture was decreased with the ratio of CH and CS increased. CH resulted in lowest peak viscosity and breakdown values of mixed powder. It was indicated that increasing amounts of CH and CS led to significantly reduced moisture content, expansion ratio but raised density of biscuits. CH and CS inhibited starch digestion and promoted a remarkable increase (P < 0.05) of resistant starch (RS) content. The hydrolysis kinetic analysis suggested a decelerating influence of CH on the hydrolysis content with lower values of equilibrium hydrolysis percentage (C∞) while CS on hydrolysis rate with lower kinetic constant (K). The estimated glycemic index (eGI) of the CH (15-20%) samples were below 55. These results are of great significance in delaying starch digestion and provided a better choice in design of fried puffed snacks for special crowd with chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity.

Effect of Sand-Frying-Triggered Puffing on the Multi-Scale Structure and Physicochemical Properties of Cassava Starch in Dry Gel

This study revealed the underlying mechanisms involved in the puffing process of dried cassava starch gel by exploring the development of the puffed structure of gel upon sand-frying, chiefly focused on the changes in the multi-scale structure and the physicochemical properties of starch. The results suggested that the sand-frying-induced puffing proceeded very fast, completed in about twenty seconds, which could be described as a two-phase pattern including the warming up (0~6 s) and puffing (7~18 s) stages. In the first stage, no significant changes occurred to the structure or appearance of the starch gel. In the second stage, the cells in the gel network structure were expanded until burst, which brought about a decrease in moisture content, bulk density, and hardness, as well as the increase in porosity and crispness when the surface temperature of gel reached glass transition temperature of 125.28 °C. Upon sand-frying puffing, the crystalline melting and molecular degradation of starch happened simultaneously, of which the latter mainly occurred in the first stage. Along with the increase of puffing time, the thermal stability, peak viscosity, and final viscosity of starch gradually decreased, while the water solubility index increased. Knowing the underlying mechanisms of this process might help manufacturers produce a better quality of starch-based puffed products.

Kinetics of Moisture Loss and Oil Absorption of Pork Rinds during Deep-Fat, Microwave-Assisted and Vacuum Frying

The fat content of fried pork rinds is high, and alternative frying helps reduce the oil content and maintain their texture and taste. Different frying methods such as microwave-assisted, traditional deep frying and vacuum frying on the breaking force, color, microstructure, water loss and oil absorption attributes of fried pork rinds were evaluated in this study. The fat content of microwave-assisted and vacuum-fried pork rinds was lower (24.2 g/100 g dry weight basis (db) and 17.1 g/100 g db, respectively) than that (35.6 g/100 g db) of traditional deep-fat frying. Non-uniform, holy and irregular surface microstructures were obtained by vacuum frying due to rapid mass transfer at low pressure. The first-order kinetic models of water loss and oil absorption of traditional and microwave-assisted frying of pork rinds were established. Microwave frying caused a faster moisture loss rate, shorter frying time and lower pork rind oil content, makes it an attractive substitute for traditional deep-fat frying.

Kinetics of Oil Absorption and Moisture Loss during Deep-Frying of Pork Skin with Different Thickness

We have investigated different properties (thickness, moisture loss, oil uptake, breaking force, color, puffing ratio during 0.5–5 min frying, microstructure, and sensory evaluation) of raw pork skins with varying thickness (2, 3, and 4 mm) after drying, intended as deep-fried snacks. We have found that the oil content, breaking force, and puffing ratio of fried pork skin with different raw skin thickness have no significant difference under similar water content (1.68–1.98 g/100 g wet weight basis, wb) after 3–5 min of deep-frying at 180 °C. Additionally, sensory score results have shown that fried pork skins with 4 mm raw skin thickness had lower flavor, texture, and overall acceptability than those with 2 mm and 3 mm raw skin thickness. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) have revealed less holes and irregular and crack microstructure in fried pork skins with 4 mm raw skin thickness than in other groups. Different thickness of raw pork skins resulted in different effects in microstructure and influenced water evaporation and oil uptake of fried pork skin. Finally, we have proposed the kinetic equations of water loss and oil uptake of fried pork skins. Fried pork skin from raw skin thicker than 4 mm need frying at temperature higher than 180 °C to improve their puffing ratio and sensory acceptability.

Effect of Microwave Heating on the Acrylamide Formation in Foods

Acrylamide (AA) is a neurotoxic and carcinogenic substance that has recently been discovered in food. One of the factors affecting its formation is the heat treatment method. This review discusses the microwave heating as one of the methods of thermal food processing and the influence of microwave radiation on the acrylamide formation in food. In addition, conventional and microwave heating were compared, especially the way they affect the AA formation in food. Available studies demonstrate differences in the mechanisms of microwave and conventional heating. These differences may be beneficial or detrimental depending on different processes. The published studies showed that microwave heating at a high power level can cause greater AA formation in products than conventional food heat treatment. The higher content of acrylamide in microwave-heated foods may be due to differences in its formation during microwave heating and conventional methods. At the same time, short exposure to microwaves (during blanching and thawing) at low power may even limit the formation of acrylamide during the final heat treatment. Considering the possible harmful effects of microwave heating on food quality (e.g., intensive formation of acrylamide), further research in this direction should be carried out.

Effects of calcium citrate, chitosan and chitooligosaccharide addition on acrylamide and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural formation in dark brown sugar

Calcium citrate, chitosan, and chitooligosaccharide were added to sugarcane juice to investigate their effect on color, pH, antioxidant activity, reducing sugar, acrylamide and HMF mitigation in dark brown sugar production. Results showed that the content of 52-67% acrylamide in the dark brown sugar was mitigated with 0.1-1.0% chitosan addition and the reducing power of dark brown sugar increased with 0.5-1.0% chitosan addition. Furthermore, the addition of 0.5-1.0% chitosan or chitooligosaccharide increased HMF formation. Only the pH of dark brown sugar with chitosan addition was lower than that of other dark brown sugars. This is due to the low pH condition in dark brown sugar mitigating Maillard reaction and acrylamide formation. When the pH of sugarcane juice with chitosan adjusted back to pH 7 again, the acrylamide content of dark brown sugars significant increased (p < 0.05). Acrylamide and HMF are both produced through the Maillard reaction, the lower pH will cause the hydrolysis of sucrose to produce more HMF and reducing sugar. The L values and white index of dark brown sugar with 0.5-1.0% added chitosan were lower than those of control dark brown sugar (p < 0.05). High negative correlation was observed between HMF and acrylamide in the present study.

Application of food description to the food classification system: Evidence of risk assessment from Taiwan as Acrylamide of grain products

Harmonization of national consumption data for international comparison is an important but challenging work, yet to date there is a lack of comparable food classification system that incorporates food description in Taiwan. In 2015, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a new standardized food classification and description system called FoodEx2, which provides a flexible combination of classifications and descriptions. Based on FoodEx2 and a unique data set of daily food consumption offered by Taiwan Food Consumption Database, this study aims to provide a harmonized, food description incorporated, food classification system (HFDFC system) that captures all the useful details of food groups in exposure assessments. The HFDFC system was built according to six risk-assessment-related facets including food sources, processed products, cooking methods, manufacturers (brand), food additives and specialty foods. The HFDFC system includes 199 foods in the core list and 131 foods in the extended list. This study also compared the Acrylamide hazard index estimated under the HFDFC system with that under the National Food Consumption Database in Taiwan (NFCDT). The findings indicated that the HFDFC system provides useful and detailed information that helps the users to quickly identify food information in a harmonized manner and to reduce estimation bias. The HFDFC system is expected to facilitate global comparisons in the food risk assessment because it is built based upon EU Foodex2.

The Formation of Acrylamide from and Its Reduction by 3-Aminopropanamide Occur Simultaneously During Thermal Treatment

3-Aminopropanamide (3-APA) is the direct precursor of acrylamide produced in the Maillard reaction between asparagine and reducing sugars. In this research, we found that 3-APA could reduce acrylamide by the formation of adducts between acrylamide and 3-APA via Michael addition. The effects of temperature, heating duration and 3-APA/acrylamide ratio on the reduction of acrylamide were investigated. Addition of 3-APA to acrylamide at a molar ratio of 5:3 at 160 °C for 20 min reduced acrylamide by up to 47.29%. The major adduct was identified as 3,3',3'-nitrilotris, and its cytotoxicity on Caco-2 cells was evaluated to be much lower than acrylamide. The viability of Caco-2 cells retained at 88.31% and 86.43% after incubation with 16 mM 3,3',3'-nitrilotris for 24 and 48 hr, respectively, while those incubated with the same concentration of acrylamide were 23.33% and 19.12%, respectively.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

The current study reported 3-APA could reduce acrylamide through the Micheal addition reaction between 3-APA and acrylamide. The adduct showed significantly reduced cytotoxicity compared to acrylamide. The research is critical in evaluation and control of food contaminants. The results brought new insights in the area of food safety, especially in the mechanism researches on formation and mitigation of endogenous contaminants in thermal-processed foods.

Codissolution of calcium hydrogenphosphate and sodium hydrogencitrate in water. Spontaneous supersaturation of calcium citrate increasing calcium bioavailability

The sparingly soluble calcium hydrogenphosphate dihydrate, co-dissolving in water during dissolution of freely soluble sodium hydrogencitrate sesquihydrate as caused by proton transfer from hydrogencitrate to hydrogenphosphate, was found to form homogenous solutions supersaturated by a factor up to 8 in calcium citrate tetrahydrate. A critical hydrogencitrate concentration for formation of homogeneous solutions was found to depend linearly on dissolved calcium hydrogenphosphate: [HCitr²⁻] = 14[CaHPO₄] - 0.05 at 25 °C. The lag phase for precipitation of calcium citrate tetrahydrate, as identified from FT-IR spectra, from these spontaneously formed supersaturated solutions was several hours, and the time to reach solubility equilibrium was several days. Initial calcium ion activity was found to be almost independent of the degree of supersaturation as determined electrochemically. The supersaturated solutions had a pH around 4.7, and calcium binding to hydrogencitrate as the dominant citrate species during precipitation was found to be exothermic with a determined association constant of 357 L mol⁻¹ at 25 °C for unit ionic strength, and ΔH° = −22 ± 2 kJ mol⁻¹, ΔS° = −26 ± 8 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹. Calcium binding to hydrogencitrate and, more importantly, to citrate is suggested to decrease the rate of precipitation by lowering the driving force of precipitation, and becoming important for the robust spontaneous supersaturation with perspectives for design of functional foods with increased calcium bioavailability.