Heterocyclic amines in braised chicken may mainly infiltrate from reused marinade during braising, instead of thermic generation

BACKGROUND Sauce braised meat products are popular in Asia, although their complicated processing may lead to potential safety risks. Especially, how hazardous compounds are formed during their preparation is still unclear. In the present study, braised chicken breasts, which are a typical Chinese sauce braised meat product, were used to investigate the formation of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) during heat treatment. RESULTS Precursor content (creatine and reducing sugar), HCA level and temperature were measured in different parts of the chicken breast at each processing stage. The results obtained showed that the increasing trends of total HCA content in different parts of chicken breast were not the same. Only total HCA content in the skin (4.93 +/- 0.80 ng g(-1)) increased significantly after deep-frying. During braising, total HCA level in the skin was high (12.1-14.3 ng g(-1)) and relatively stable. However, total HCA content in pectoralis major muscle (3.90-7.40 ng g(-1)) and pectoralis minor muscle (1.44-5.31 ng g(-1)) was much lower than in the skin, and increased steadily with braising time. CONCLUSION Braising is the main factor which affects HCA level in braised chicken. Combining the results of temperature and precursor content, a possible explanation for the large amount of HCAs in braised chicken is the gradual infiltration from reused marinade, instead of thermic generation. (c) 2019 Society of Chemical Industry