Activities of hydrocolloids as inhibitors of acrylamide formation in model systems and fried potato strips

Effects of eight hydrocolloids on acrylamide (AA) formation were compared. At 2% (w/w), pectin, alginic acid (>50% reduction) and xanthan gum (∼20%) significantly (P < 0.05) reduced acrylamide formation in chemical models. In the fried snack model, effective inhibition of acrylamide formation (∼30%) by most of the hydrocolloids was observed only when the concentration was increased to 5%. Immersing potato strips for 1 h in a 1% alginic acid solution before frying produced inhibition of acrylamide formation similar to that in a 5% solution, and immersing for 5 h led to a significantly lower AA content (∼60% versus ∼30% reduction) compared with immersing for 1 h in a 1% or 5% immersion solution. Similar phenomena were also observed for pectin. The findings suggest alginic acid and pectin are promising inhibitors of acrylamide formation, and immersion time is an important determinant for their effects against acrylamide formation in fried potato products.