Effects of Fungicide Treatment on Free Amino Acid Concentration and Acrylamide-Forming Potential in Wheat.

Tanya Y Curtis,Stephen J Powers,Nigel G Halford

doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.6b04520

Tanya Y Curtis, Stephen J Powers + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.6b04520

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Abstract

Acrylamide forms from free asparagine and reducing sugars during frying, baking, roasting, or high-temperature processing, and cereal products are major contributors to dietary acrylamide intake. Free asparagine concentration is the determining factor for acrylamide-forming potential in cereals, and this study investigated the effect of fungicide application on free asparagine accumulation in wheat grain. Free amino acid concentrations were measured in flour from 47 varieties of wheat grown in a field trial in 2011-2012. The wheat had been supplied with nitrogen and sulfur and treated with growth regulators and fungicides. Acrylamide formation was measured after the flour had been heated at 180 °C for 20 min. Flour was also analyzed from 24 (of the 47) varieties grown in adjacent plots that were treated in identical fashion except that no fungicide was applied, resulting in visible infection by Septoria tritici, yellow rust, and brown rust. Free asparagine concentration in the fungicide-treated wheat ranged from 1.596 to 3.987 mmol kg-1, with a significant (p < 0.001 to p = 0.006, F test) effect of variety for not only free asparagine but all of the free amino acids apart from cysteine and ornithine. There was also a significant (p < 0.001, F test) effect of variety on acrylamide formation, which ranged from 134 to 992 μg kg-1. There was a significant (p < 0.001, F test) correlation between free asparagine concentration and acrylamide formation. Both free asparagine concentration and acrylamide formation increased in response to a lack of fungicide treatment, the increases in acrylamide ranging from 2.7 to 370%. Free aspartic acid concentration also increased, whereas free glutamic acid concentration increased in some varieties but decreased in others, and free proline concentration decreased. The study showed disease control by fungicide application to be an important crop management measure for mitigating the problem of acrylamide formation in wheat products.

Highlights

Acrylamide is a processing contaminant that forms within the Maillard reaction during the frying, baking, roasting, or hightemperature processing of mainly plant-derived foods
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Expert Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) stated in its 2015 report that the margin of exposure for acrylamide indicates a concern for neoplastic effects based on the animal evidence.[4]
We investigated the effect of fungicide treatment as a potential crop management measure for controlling the acrylamide-forming potential of wheat using a much larger number of commercial varieties and measured effects on free asparagine but on other free amino acids as well

Summary

Introduction

Acrylamide is a processing contaminant that forms within the Maillard reaction during the frying, baking, roasting, or hightemperature processing of mainly plant-derived foods. We investigated the effect of fungicide treatment as a potential crop management measure for controlling the acrylamide-forming potential of wheat using a much larger number of commercial varieties and measured effects on free asparagine but on other free amino acids as well.

Results

Conclusion