Acrylamide formation in foodstuffs -: Minimising strategies for potato crisps

Acrylamide formation in potato crisps was investigated in relation to raw material (potato variety and field site) and production process. Both, potato variety and field site had a noticeable influence upon acrylamide formation. Differences between field sites changed between early and late varieties. A reduction of the sugar content by blanching or soaking decreased the acrylamide concentration by about 60%. No differences between blanching and soaking, respectively, could be observed. Blanching removed more glucose and fructose than sucrose, whereas the effect of soaking was vice versa. The total content of reducing sugars showed a good correlation with the acrylamide concentration in the fried product (r(2) = 0.64). In detail, the correlation was pronounced for the monosaccharides (glucose: r(2) = 0.60; fructose: r(2) = 0.56), whereas the content of the disaccharide showed no correlation with the acrylamide concentration (sucrose r(2) = 0.24). Additionally, only by lowering the frying temperature (from 185 to 165 degreesC, and from 190 to 150 degreesC resp.; adaptation of frying time) it was possible to reduce the acrylamide formation to a half and to a third, respectively.