Mitigation of acrylamide in fried potato chips using immersion in green tea extract

Abstract

This study focused on using natural plant extracts to mitigate the process contaminant acrylamide in fried potato chips, with an emphasis on industrial applicability. Extracts from various plants were tested in a model system for screening purposes. Green tea extract was found to be the most suitable extract for pre-frying treatments, because of its potential to mitigate acrylamide and its good water solubility. For two different green tea extracts, immersion at room temperature (25 °C) for a short time (1.5 min) and at a low concentration (0.1 g L–1) resulted in a decrease of acrylamide by 40% under laboratory-scale and by 28% under scaled-up conditions, while higher and lower temperatures were ineffective for acrylamide mitigation. A sensory evaluation with 26 participants confirmed the suitability of the treatment. Interestingly, using catechins present in green tea (epigallocatechin gallate and epicatechin) instead of green tea extract increased acrylamide levels, which may be due to the oxidation of these phenols. Immersion in green tea extract prior to frying is a promising approach to lower acrylamide contents in fried chips.