Abstract
5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is produced in foods through many different pathways. Recently, studies have revealed its potential mutagenic and carcinogenic properties. Determination of HMF was originally used as an indicator of both the extent of thermal processing a food had undergone and food quality. It has been identified in a variety of food products such as bread, breakfast cereals, fruit juices, milk, and honey. In addition to the thermal processes that lead to the formation of HMF during thermal treatment, food smoking also creates conditions that result in the formation of HMF. This can take place within the food due to the elevated temperatures associated with hot smoking or by the proximity of the products of the pyrolysis of the wood matrix that is used for smoking (cold smoking). This may lead to further contamination of the product by HMF over and above that associated with the rest of the preparation process. Until now, there have been no studies examining the relation between the smoking procedure and HMF contamination in smoked food. This study is a primary investigation measuring HMF levels in three categories of smoked food products, cheese, processed meat, and fish, using HPLC-UV. The amount of HMF found in all three product categories supports our hypothesis that HMF levels are due to both internal pathways during processing and external contamination from the smoke generation matrix (wood) employed. The results ranged from 1 ppb (metsovone traditional Greek smoked cheese) to 4 ppm (hot-smoked ready-to-eat mackerel). Subsequently for smoked cheese products, a correlation was found between HMF and phenolic compounds generated by the smoking procedures and identified by SPME-GCMS. It was observed that cheese samples that had higher concentrations of HMF were also found to have higher concentrations of syringol and cresols. It is important therefore to understand the smoking procedure’s effect on HMF formation. This will aid in the development of mitigation strategies to reduce HMF formation while retaining the flavour of the smoked products.
Highlights
Food smoking is one of the oldest techniques used for the preservation and flavouring of food [1]
We report our attempt to link the extent and the type of smoking by comparing the phenolic compounds produced during smoking with the different levels of HMF
GC and Correlation. e principal component analysis (PCA) analysis of the potential correlation between HMF concentration and the amount of selected phenolic compounds discovered in smoked food products as a function of the smoking procedure was conducted. e characteristic phenolic compounds discovered by SPME-GC-MS were syringol, guaiacol, eugenol, isoeugenol, p-cresol, and phenol. e investigation into a potential correlation between phenolics compounds and HMF was based on previous work that found that the abundance of phenolics in smoked produce is potential indicators of the duration and the temperature of the smoking process
Summary
Food smoking is one of the oldest techniques used for the preservation and flavouring of food [1]. Nowadays, such processing is used to improve the organoleptic properties of some food by providing unique flavours [2] originating from the smoke applied, usually by burning wood. Products that are usually smoked are fish and meat, but these techniques are applied to cheeses and spices [3]. More than 400 volatile compounds have been found in the smoke of wood, with phenols mainly being responsible for the smoky flavour [4]. A range of factors have been found to influence the smoking process. Hot smoking and cold smoking are natural vaporous methods utilising smoke
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