Effect of vacuum impregnation pre-treatment on acrylamide formation in fried potatoes

Acrylamide is a compound with neurotoxic, carcinogenic and genotoxic effects. The risk of acrylamide formation during heat treatments such as frying and roasting in foods, rich in carbohydrates and proteins, has been reported in various studies in the literature. Vacuum impregnation is a technology that accelerates the osmotic dehydration process. In this thesis, French potatoes were exposed to distilled water as pre-treatment, as well as the impregnation in 0.1 M NaCl, KCl and CaCl2 solutions for 5, 10 or 15 minutes under vacuum. The glucose, fructose and asparagine contents of impregnation solutions were determined. Potatoes exposed to vacuum impregnation for 10 and 15 minutes were deep-fried in the sunflower oil at a temperature of 175°C for 5 minutes, and the acrylamide content of fried potatoes was determined. Results indicated that acrylamide formation in potatoes that were vacuum impregnated by 0.1 M KCl and NaCl solutions for 15 minutes was 95% and 91%, respectively, and vacuum impregnation in distilled water decreased acrylamide formation by 71%. In conclusion, vacuum impregnation technique, which is a fast technique in industrial applications, has a significant potential to prevent acrylamide formation in fried potatoes.