Effect of the use of dry breadcrumb in meatball production on the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines

Purpose Heterocyclic aromatic amines are mutagenic and/or carcinogenic compounds formed during cooking of meat. Therefore, the formation levels of them should be reduced. For this aim, the purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of dry breadcrumb in meatball production on the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines. In addition, the effect of dry breadcrumb on some quality parameters of the meatballs was also investigated. Design/methodology/approach Meatball dough with 15 percent fat was divided into four parts, where one group was selected as the control group (without dry breadcrumb). In the other three groups, dry breadcrumb was added in various ratios of 5 percent, 10 percent and 15 percent (w/w). Then, meatball dough was stored at 4 degrees C for 3 h and shaped into meatballs with a metal shaping device (7 x 1 cm). For some of the quality parameters, water, pH, cooking loss and TBARS analyses were done in the samples. Heterocyclic aromatic amine analysis was done in only cooked samples according to solid phase extraction. Findings The use of dry breadcrumb in meatball production decreased water content and cooking loss. As cooking temperature increased, water contents and cooking loss of meatball decreased. PhIP, A alpha C and MeA alpha C were not detected in any of the samples analyzed. As cooking temperature increased, total amount of HCAs increased and ranged between 0.05 and 0.51 ng/g. While the use of dry breadcrumb in the meatball production increased IQ content of the meatballs, the use of 5 percent dry breadcrumb caused a decrease in the total HAA content (28.57-66.67 percent) for all cooking temperatures. Originality/value Many research studies including our study in the literature were conducted on formation and reduction of HAAs in meat and meat products. However, although dry breadcrumb is frequently used both in domestic and commercial meatball formulations; to the best of our knowledge, effect of using dry breadcrumb in meatball production on HAAs formation has not been investigated in the literature. Therefore, in the present study, the effects of the use of dry breadcrumb in meatball production on some quality parameters and formation of HAAs in meatballs cooked at 150 degrees C, 200 degrees C and 250 degrees C were determined.