An investigation of the effect of white tea and oolong tea on the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines

Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA) are carcinogenic and / or mutagenic compounds formed by the Maillard reaction, which contains creatine (in), amino acids and sugar, of high protein-containing foods at high temperatures. The reduction of HAA formation and exposure, by adding an antioxidant components during the cooking of meats is a topic of interest. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of white tea and oolong tea marination on HCA formation. After marinating chicken thigh meat with different concentrations (0%, 0.5% and 1%) of white tea and oolong tea, the reducing effect of cooking it in a pan without oil at different temperatures (150° C, 200° C and 250° C) on HAA formation was investigated. In all cooked meat samples, a total of 10 HCA were analyzed including 2-amino-3-methylimidazo [4,5-f] quinoxaline (IQx), 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f] quinoline (IQ), 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2-amino-3,4-dimethylimidazo [4,5-f] quinoline (MeIQ), 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo [4,5-f] quinoxaline (4,8-DiMeIQx), 2-amino-3,7,8-trimethylimidazo [4,5-f] quinoxaline (7,8-DiMeIQx), 2-amino-1-metil-6-phenylimidazo [4,5-b] pyridrine (PhIP), 2-amino-9H-pyrido [2,3-b] indole (AαC), 2-amino-3-methyl-9H-pyrido [2,3-b] indole (MeAαC) and 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido [4,3-b]-indole (Trp-P-2). The MeAαC level in all samples was below the detectable limit. The total amount of HAA of the chicken tigh meat samples have been determined between 0.55 and 21.33 ng/g and it was determined that the total HAA levels of the samples cooked at 150°C after marination with 0.5% and 1% concentration of white tea were inhibited by, respectively, 76.88% and 80.26% and at 250°C by, respectively, 53,08 % and 47,45%. It was determined that the total HAA levels of the samples cooked at 150°C after marination with 0.5% and 1% concentration of oolong tea were inhibited by, respectively, 85,04% and 32,91% and at 250°C by, respectively, 92,26 % and 96,25%. This study has shown that 0.5% and 1% concentrations of white tea and oolong tea reduce the formation of HAA in chicken thigh meat samples which cooked at 150 and 250°C.