Raising agents strongly influence acrylamide and HMF formation in cookies and conditions for asparaginase activity in dough

The impact of raising agents on formation of heat-induced contaminants, acrylamide and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), with focus on the efficiency of enzyme asparaginase as a potent tool for acrylamide reduction was investigated in the model system of cereal products. Acrylamide formation was strongly supported by ammonium hydrogen carbonate (NH4HCO3), observing 6 times higher level in comparison with control sample without raising agents, and was suppressed effectively by sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO3) up to 52 %. Sodium pyrophosphate (Na4P2O7) had no influence on the final acrylamide content. The level of HMF remained untouched by NH4HCO3 contrary to sodium raising agents that both diminished HMF concentration up to 95 % using NaHCO3. Furthermore, enzyme asparaginase eliminated acrylamide formation in the range from 23 to 75 % depending mainly on pH value of dough and time of enzyme incubation (15, 30 and 60 min). The optimum pH value for asparaginase action was in neutrality. Na4P2O7 shifted pH value of dough to the optimum in comparison with control (from 5.82 to 6.78). NH4HCO3 and NaHCO3 changed pH value out of optimum up to 7.82 and 8.10, respectively. The longer the enzyme treatment, the higher the acrylamide elimination was observed, with the main importance in cases of pH shifting by raising agents. These findings indicate that a product-specific optimization of the conditions for enzymatic treatment is still challenging in terms of achieving desired quality parameters with improved safety, although acrylamide mitigation by means of asparaginase was proved to be a very effective tool especially in cereal-based products.