An experimental set-up for studying acrylamide formation in potato crisps

The objective of this work was to set up lab-scale equipment for production of crisps mimicking industrial conditions. Slices of Saturna potatoes were deep-fat fried for 2-4.5 min at 160 °C. A solid phase extraction method for acrylamide from potato crisps was used, and the extraction recovery was calculated to 95%. Acrylamide was analysed using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The relative standard deviation was below 3% for analyses performed on the same day and below 5% for inter-day analyses. The limit of quantification was estimated to be 160μg/kg potato crisps. The colour of potato slices was determined using a digital imaging method and related to the acrylamide content. There were tendencies that L*(lightness) decreased and that that a*(redness) and b*(yellowness) increased with increasing acrylamide content. In another experiment, potatoes with different glucose levels were fried for 4min but no significant difference in acrylamide content (2200-2800 μg/kg) was observed. The experiment was repeated after three months of storage. The levels of acrylamide increased significantly to 8200-13200μg/kg. The potatoes had been fertilized with different levels of nitrogen, but no relation was found between the nitrogen supplied and the acrylamide content. The experimental set-up was shown to give realistic and reproducible experimental data, regarding colour, water content and acrylamide levels. It will be used together with the analytical methods as a platform for further research on the formation of acrylamide.