acrylamide content of foodstuffs may be determined in accordance with j agric food chem . 2002 aug 14 ; 50 ( 17 ): 4998 - 5006 . 20 g mozzarella cheese ( karoline &# 39 ; s dansk mozzarella , 25 % protein , 1 % carbohydrate and 21 % fat ) is scaled in a beaker . 1 ml hexose oxidase solution ( 7 . 5 hox units / ml ) is sprayed onto the cheese . as a control 1 ml water is sprayed onto another sample of mozzarella cheese . the cheese is stored for 2 hours at room temperature . a dough is made from flour , salt and water . 10 g dough is scaled and placed in a petri dish . 5 grams of mozzarella cheese is placed on top of the dough and baked at 225 ° c . for 7 min . another sample is baked for 15 min . after baking the samples are evaluated . the samples in accordance with the present invention have a lower content of acrylamide than the control samples . the effect of hexose oxidase is tested in a gratin made by the following procedure . 75g shortening ( mp . 35 ° c .) and 100 g flour are heated in a pot during mixing . 350 ml skim milk ( preheated to 90 ° c .) is added during continued mixing . salt and pepper is added . 4 eggs are divided into yolk and egg white . the egg yolks are added individually . the egg white is whipped to a foam with 10 gram baking powder and mixed carefully into the dough . the dough is placed in 2 aluminium trays . one of the trays is sprayed with a solution of hexose oxidase 7 . 5 units / ml and kept at room temperature for 30 minutes . the gratin is then baked in a air circulating oven at 175 ° c . for 20 minutes . after baking the gratin is evaluated . the samples in accordance with the present invention have a lower content of acrylamide than the control samples . the consumption of fried potato as french fries ( pommes frites ) and potato chips ( crisps ) has increased significantly during the past two decades . one of the important parameters in the production of fried potatoes is level of reducing sugar . the level should remain low , because high level of reducing sugar contribute to higher levels of acrylamide . in order to prevent an increase in the level of reducing sugar in potatoes during storage potatoes are often sprayed with a herbicide called chlorpropham , which prevents the potato from sprouting . sprouting induces amylases in the potato which in turn form reducing sugars . in this study one investigated if it is possible to reduce levels of acrylamide in fried potatoes by adding hox to sliced potatoes before frying . organic grown potatoes are used in order to ensure that no herbicides has been used . the potatoes are peeled and sliced into 2 mm thick slices using a food processor . half of the slices are immersed in a water solution of hox containing 100 units / ml for 3 minutes . the other half of the potato slices are immersed in water for 3 minutes . the slices are then stored in a closed container for over night ( 16 hours ) and then fried in vegetable oil for 2 minutes at 180 ° c . the samples in accordance with the present invention have a lower content of acrylamide than the control samples . 125 g rye flour 125 g flour 0 . 5 tsp baking powder 3 tsp sugar 2 tsp salt 100 g margarine 1 . 25 dl milk 1 egg mix dry ingredients crumble margarine into mixture , and quickly knead the dough with water and whisked egg leave the dough to rest for 20 minutes , then roll it out on the plate , prick and cut it into 8 × 20 cm big loaves bake for 10 minutes at 190 ° c . until light brown break gently into pieces . the samples in accordance with the present invention have a lower content of acrylamide than the control samples . definition : 1 glucose oxidase ( gox ) unit corresponds to the amount of enzyme which under the specified conditions results in the conversion of 1 μmole glucose per minute , with resultant generation of 1 μmole of hydrogen peroxide ( h 2 o 2 ). definition : 1 hexose oxidase ( hox ) unit corresponds to the amount of enzyme which under the specified conditions results in the conversion of 1 μmole of glucose per minute , with resultant generation of 1 μmole of hydrogen peroxide ( h 2 o 2 ). assay of gox and hox activity in microtiter plates ( 300 μl ). the commonly used horse radish peroxidase dye substrate abts was incorporated into an assay , measuring the production of h 2 o 2 produced by hox or gox respectively . abts serves as a chromogenic substrate for peroxidase . peroxidase in combination with h 2 o 2 facilitates the electron transport from the chromogenic dye , which is oxidised to an intensely green / blue compound . an assay mixture contained 266 μl β - d - glucose ( sigma p - 5504 , 0 . 055 m in 0 . 1 m sodium phosphate buffer , ph 6 . 3 ), 11 . 6 μl 2 , 2 ′- azino - bis ( 3 - ethylbenzothiozoline - 6 - sulfonic acid )( abts )( sigma a - 9941 , 5 mg / ml aqueous solution ), 11 . 6 μl peroxidase ( pod )( sigma p - 6782 , 0 . 1 mg / ml in 0 . 1 m sodium phosphate buffer , ph 6 . 3 ) and 10 μl enzyme ( hox or gox ) aqueous solution . the incubation was started by the addition of glucose at 25 ° c . the absorbance was monitored at 405 nm in an elisa reader . a standard curve , based on varying concentrations of h 2 o 2 , was used for calculation of enzyme activity according to the definition above . reaction ( 1 ) is catalysed by enzyme ( hox or gox ) reaction ( 2 ) is catalysed by enzyme ( pod ) use of hexose oxidase and glucose oxidase to reduce the amount of acrylamide developed by frying potato chips . italian potatoes of the sort nicola , were peeled and sliced into pieces of approximately ( 3 mm × 30 mm × 40 mm ) . portions of approx . 30 g of sliced potatoes were treated with 40 ml of one of the incubation solutions as described below . during treatment it was made sure that all potatoes were covered with solution and the incubating beakers were stirred at rt for 4 hours in total . after the enzyme treatment the potato slices where air dried for app . 30 min and fried for 2 . 5 min in pure rapeseed oil ( 175 ° c .). subsequently the potatoes were spread on tissue paper and allowed to cool for approx . 30 min . they were stored dark in closed containers at − 20 ° c . they were then purified and analysed as described in example 7 . 2 . ( 0 ) 40 ml of demineralised water (= control ) ( 1 ) 40 ml demineralised water containing 5 u / ml glucose oxidase ( gox , sigma g - 6125 ) ( 2 ) 40 ml demineralised water containing 5 u / ml hexose oxidase ( hox ) the results of the experiment are summarized in fig1 . it is evident from fig1 that incubation prior to frying , using an incubation solution containing either gox or hox , had an effect on the relative level of acrylamide found in the fried potato . the largest effect was observed using hox (˜ 65 % reduction ) ( see treatment 2 ). a smaller effect was observed using the same dosage of gox (˜ 41 % reduction )( see treatment 1 ). use of hexose oxidase and glucose oxidase to reduce the amount of acrylamide developed by baking potato chips . italian potatoes of the sort nicola , were peeled and sliced as described in example 6 . portions of app 50 g were treated with 100 ml of incubation solution and incubated for 15 min , while stirring at rt . during treatment it was made sure that all potatoes were covered with solution . after the enzyme treatment the potato slices where air dried for approx . 30 min and baked in a pre - heated oven for 30 min at 175 ° c . to account for differences in heating conditions of the oven , the baking plate was divided into 9 segments of equal size . potatoes treated as in ( 1 )-( 3 ) ( see below ), were divided into 9 equal fractions and 1 fraction from each was placed in each segment to a total of 3 fractions per segment . this was done to minimize the chance of faulty results as a consequence of uneven heating in the oven . subsequently the potatoes were spread on tissue paper and allowed to cool for approx . 30 min . they were stored dark in closed containers at − 20 ° c . ( 1 ) no incubation ( 2 ) 100 ml demineralised water ( 3 ) 100 ml demineralised water containing 50 u / ml hexose oxidase ( hox ) the results of the experiment are summarized in fig2 and fig3 . through statistical analysis of the results in fig2 , it was found that hox treated samples show significantly lower content of acrylamide compared to water treated samples . the sample to be analysed was coarsely ground with a knife . an aliquot ( 1 g ) was homogenized ( ultra - turrax t25 ) with 15 ml of internal standard , ( istd , 1000 ng acrylamide 1 , 2 , 3 - 13 c 3 / 15 ml h 2 o ) in a 100 ml beaker . the homogenate was transferred to a 50 ml centrifuge tube and 2 ml of dichloromethane were added . the mixture was shaken and centrifuged at 18000 rev / min (= 25000 rcf ) in a sorvall rc - 5b centrifuge for 20 min . at 4 ° c . an oasis max cartridge and an oasis mcx cartridge were each conditioned with 5 ml methanol followed by 2 * 5 ml water . after conditioning , they were combined in series with oasis max on top . an aliquot ( 1 . 5 ml ) of the supernatant ( water ) was passed through the oasis max / oasis mcx tandem ( fraction 1 ). water ( 5 ml ) was added to the oasis max / oasis mcx tandem and the eluent was collected in three fractions : fraction 2 ( 1 ml ), fraction 3 ( 2 ml ) and fraction 4 ( 2 ml ). fraction 3 was filtered through a 0 . 45 - μm filter ( 13 mm ghp 0 . 45 μm minispike , waters ) and subjected to analysis . food science and technology have had interest in acrylamide itself ( and / or its derivatives incl . polymers ), and its applications and possible toxic effects for many years . for example , there are many reports on can coatings and food packaging , on food additives ( preservatives , artificial sweeteners etc .) and on acrylamide polymers of suitable quality with low residual acrylamide monomer levels that are used in , e . g . the u . s . for treatment of poultry , potato , corn , and other wastes , with the resulting concentrated solids used as components of blended animal feeds ( 14 - 19 ). there are only a few earlier reports on the occurrence of acrylamide in foods . for example , acrylamide has been reported to be present in plant material ( potatoes , carrots , radish , lettuce , chinese cabbage , parsley , onions , spinach , and rice paddy ) ( 20 ). in 1 g plant samples , 1 . 5 . 100 ng acrylamide could be detected . acrylamide was also reported to occur in sugar ( 21 ). the origin of the detected acrylamide in these foods is not known . it might be exogenous . to the best of our knowledge , no proposed or proven reaction routes for the formation of acrylamide during food processing have been published . therefore , what are described below are the hypotheses we find most relevant and probable in a food processing situation . a . acrolein ( 2 - propenal , ch2 = ch — cho ) is a three carbon aldehyde and thus reminds the structure of acrylamide ( ch2 = ch — c ( o )- nh2 ). further , acrolein is known to be formed by : 1 . transformation of lipids 2 . degradation of amino acids and proteins 3 . degradation of carbohydrates 4 . the maillard reaction between amino acids or proteins and carbohydrates therefore , acrolein is a very probable precursor of acrylamide . simple , fundamental chemical transformations ( such as reaction with ammonia liberated from amino acids ) can then convert acrolein ( or a derivative from it ) into acrylamide . the production of acrylamide through the reaction of acrolein with ammonia has been demonstrated in model systems ( 22 ). b . alternative formation mechanisms of acrylamide do not necessarily involve acrolein . for example , proteins and / or amino acids can after a series of transformations , such as hydrolyses , rearrangements , decarboxylations etc ., eventually lead to acrylamide . the processes mentioned above ( a and b ) are complicated and involve multistage reaction mechanisms which might also include free radical reactions to acrolein or acrylamide ( 23 - 25 ). when oil is heated at temperatures above the smoke point , glycerol is degraded to acrolein , the unpleasant acrid black and irritating smoke ( 26 - 29 ). the formation of acrolein is known to increase with the increase in unsaturation in the oil and to lead to a lowering of the smoke point . the smoke point is higher for oils with higher content of saturated fatty acids and lower content of polyunsaturated acids . the smoke points for some of the main oils and fats are as follows : palm 240 ° c ., peanut 220 ° c ., olive : 210 ° c ., lard and copra 180 ° c ., sunflower and soybean 170 ° c ., corn 160 ° c ., margarine 150 ° c ., and butter 110 ° c . usually the smoke starts to appear on the surface of heated oils before their temperature reaches 175 ° c . the oil is first hydrolyzed into glycerol and fatty acids and then acrolein is produced by the elimination of water from glycerol by a heterolytic acid - catalyzed carbonium ion mechanism followed by oxidation ( 30 ). besides the above - mentioned mechanism for the formation of acrolein from acylglycerols , acrolein can also be produced as a result of oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids and their degradation products ( 31 - 34 ). a number of aldehydic products ( including malondialdehyde , c3 - c10 straight chain aldehydes , and α , β - unsaturated aldehydes , such as 4 - hydroxynonenal and acrolein ) are known to form as secondary oxidation products of lipids ( 35 ). acrolein was also found to form in vivo by the metal - catalyzed oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids including arachidonic acid ( 36 ). several sources for the formation of acrolein are known . it may arise from degradation of amino acids and proteins ( 37 , 38 ), from degradation of carbohydrates ( 39 ), and from the maillard reaction between amino acids or proteins and carbohydrates ( 40 , 41 ). many possible routes for the formation of this three - carbon aldehyde — taking the starting point from many different sugars or amino acids — may be proposed . its formation from methionine by the strecker degradation in the frame of the maillard reaction is one example . alanine , with its tree - carbon skeleton , has also been suggested as a possible source . however , fission reactions of longer carbon chains are common and well - known , so at present there is no basis to give priority to any specific reaction routes . there are also numerous , plausible reaction routes by which amino acids ( or proteins ) may form acrylamide without going through acrolein . within the frame of complex , multistage reaction mechanisms , involving hydrolyses , rearrangements , decarboxylations , deaminations etc ., many specific mechanistic pathways may be suggested . decarboxylation and deamination of aspargine , and transformations of dehydroalanine ( formed from e . g . serine or cysteine ) are some examples of reaction routes that have been proposed . but also in this case these can only be seen as possible examples , and similarly to above , there is no basis to give priority to any specific routes . since no systematic studies have been performed or reported , there is at present no evidence to point out any specific reaction routes for acrylamide formation , or to exclude any possibilities . most probably a multitude of reaction mechanisms is involved , depending on food composition and processing conditions . as mentioned above , acrolein can be converted into acrylamide by a series of fundamental reactions . however , both acrolein and acrylamide are reactive , because of their double bonds and the amino group of acrylamide . they can readily react further with other reactive groups present in the food matrix or formed during the heating process . for example , acrylamide can react with small reactive molecules , such as urea ( co ( nh2 ) 2 ) and formaldehyde ( hcho ), or with glyoxal (( cho ) 2 ), aldehydes ( rcho ), amines ( r2nh ), thiols ( rsh ) etc . furthermore , the products shown in the following scheme can even react further in the same mode of reaction . these types of reactive functional groups may also be found in macromolecules , such as proteins , for instance . ( cf adduct formation with valine in the globin chain of hemoglobin described above . in hemoglobin adducts are formed not only with valine , but also with e . g . cystein .) the presence or absence of reactive groups ( or its concentration ) in the food matrix may thus be one explanation of differences in final acrylamide content in different food systems . the resulting acrylamide level may be due to a balance between formation and further reactions . the low acrylamide levels in heated meat products could , for instance , depend on adduct formation between acrylamide ( or acrolein ) and proteins . a couple of different chemical mechanisms for the formation of acrylamide have been outlined above . obviously , as long as the mechanism or mechanisms are not confirmed , the influencing factors can not be established . thus , what is presented here are attempts to identify what factors would be of importance ( regarding processing conditions or product composition ) if a specific reaction route is the prevailing one . specific emphasis is put on the maillard reaction , since this reaction system involves many of the basic carbohydrate and amino acid reactions . another major reaction in foods during processing , which could be of importance , is lipid hydrolysis followed by oxidation of the fatty acids . acrolein may be formed from the glycerol part of triglycerides or through oxidation of fatty acids . this means that factors favouring lipid hydrolysis as well as factors favouring lipid oxidation would promote acrolein formation . temperature is an important factor for both these reactions . regarding hydrolysis , ph may also be of importance and high as well as low ph may be supposed to favour acrolein formation . regarding oxidation , lipid composition is of key importance ; the higher the degree of unsaturation , the lower the stability . protection against oxygen and light will limit the oxidation and prooxidants , such as metals , should be avoided . the protective effect of antioxidants should also be taken into account . the maillard reaction has been proposed as a route for acrolein formation . also the direct formation of acrylamide through amino acid transformations has been proposed . these amino acid transformations also involve reactions common in the maillard reaction system . the maillard reaction ( mr ) is one of the most important chemical reactions in food processing , with influence on several aspects of food quality . flavour , colour and nutritional value may be affected and certain reaction products have been noticed to be antioxidative , antimicrobial , genotoxic etc . the practical applications of maillard chemistry in food processing are , therefore , a matter of balance between favourable and unfavourable effects , and the aim of the food manufacturer is to find an optimum in this balance . this may be accomplished by influencing the main variables affecting the mr ( 42 ). the maillard reaction takes place in 3 major stages and is dependent upon factors , such as concentrations of reactants and reactant type , ph , time , temperature , and water activity . free radicals and antioxidants are also involved ( 43 ). the early stage ( step 1 ) involves the condensation of a free amino group ( from free amino acids and / or proteins ) with a reducing sugar to form amadori or heyns rearrangement products . the advanced stage ( step 2 ) means degradation of the amadori or heyns rearrangement products via different alternative routes involving deoxyosones , fission or strecker degradation . a complex series of reactions including dehydration , elimination , cyclization , fission and fragmentation result in a pool of flavour intermediates and flavour compounds . following the degradation pathway as illustrated schematically in fig6 , key intermediates and flavour chemicals can be identified . one of the most important pathways is the strecker degradation in which amino acids react with dicarbonyls ( formed by the maillard reaction ) to generate a wealth of reactive intermediates . typical strecker degradation products are aldehydes , e . g . formaldehyde , acetaldehyde , and possibly propenaldehyde ( acrolein ). strecker degradation results in degradation of amino acids to aldehydes , ammonia and carbon dioxide ( 44 ) and takes place in foods at higher concentrations of free amino acids and under more drastic reactions , e . g . at higher temperatures or under pressure ( 45 ). pathways of formation of key flavour intermediates and products in the maillard reaction ( 43 ) are shown in fig6 . the final stage ( stage 3 ) of the mr is characterized by the formation of brown nitrogenous polymers and co - polymers . while the development of colour is an important feature of the reaction , relatively little is known about the chemical nature of the compounds responsible . colour compounds can be grouped into two general classes — low molecular weight colour compounds , which comprise two to four linked rings , and the melanoidins , which have much higher molecular weights . factors that are particularly important for the mr are the starting reactants , e . g . type of sugar and amino acid ( protein ), time , temperature and water activity . presence of metal salts ( pro - oxidants ), and inhibitors , like antioxidants and sulphite , might all have an impact . mr requires reducing sugars , i . e . sugars containing keto - or aldehydes ( free carbonyl groups ). the reactivity of different sugars can be summarised in the following way ( 46 ): the shorter carbon chain , the sugar has , the greater are the lysine losses ( mr ). pentoses are more reactive than hexoses and disaccharides in yielding brown colour . aldoses are more reactive than ketoses both in aqueous solution model systems and at storage ( low water content ) among isomeric sugars , stereochemistry is important . thus ribose is more reactive than xylose monitored as lysine losses . all monosacharides are reducing sugars . ( sugar alcohols do not participate in mr .) among the disaccharides all sugars except sucrose are reducing sugars . in oligosaccharides and starch only the end - terminal monosaccharide is a reducing sugar . starch and sugars , such as sucrose , lactose , maltose etc can easily hydrolyse upon heating above 100 ° c . at slightly acidic ph , resulting in the formation of monosaccharides ( reducing sugars ). thus , thermal processing often result in a continuous supply of reducing sugar formed from complex carbohydrates . most studies concerning reactivity of amino acids have been performed on free amino acids in diluted aqueous solutions . the reactivity among the diamino acids increased with the length of the carbon chain . among the amino acids studied lysine was most reactive . in proteins and peptides , only free amino groups can react , i . e . n - terminal á - amino groups and - amino groups . the temperature dependence of chemical reactions is often expressed as the activation energy , ea , in the arrhenius equation . the higher the value of ea , the more temperature dependent is the reaction rate . activation energy data for the mr have been reported within a wide range , 10 - 160 kj / mole , depending on , among other things , water activity and ph and what effect of the reaction has been measured . the temperature dependence of the mr is also influenced by the participating reactants . the temperature effect is also affected by the other variables and different aspects of the mr thus differ in temperature dependence ( 42 ). water has both an inhibitory and an accelerating impact on the mr . water acts partly as a reactant and partly as a solvent and transporting medium of reactants ( reactant mobility ). in the initial steps of the mr , 3 moles of water are formed per mol carbohydrate . thus the reaction occurs less readily in foods with a high aw value . water might depress the initial glucosylamine reaction , but enhance the deamination step later in the reaction . the results from studies in model systems for optimal water concentration or water activity ( free water ) or relative humidity ( rh ) vary markedly depending on selected reactants and how the mr is evaluated — as loss in lysine or browning intensity . several studies have been performed of which most claim the max aw to be between 0 . 3 and 0 . 7 ( 47 ). however , most data on the aw influence are based on studies at relatively low temperatures ( 30 - 60 ° c .). at higher temperature , more relevant to heat processes , considerably lower aw has been shown to be favourable to the mr ( 42 ). the main explanation to an optimum reaction rate at an intermediate aw is that the reactants are diluted at the higher aw , while at a lower aw the mobility of reactants is limited , despite their presence at increased concentrations . the mr itself has a strong influence on ph . therefore , aqueous model systems based on reflux boiling of sugars and amino acids need to be buffered since the ph quickly drops from 7 to 5 . low ph values (& lt ; 7 ) favour the formation of furfurals ( from amadori rearrangement products ), while the routes for reductones and fission products are preferred at a high ph . however , the overall effect of ph is not clear cut , since the reactions take place by all the three pathways . in unbuffered water solutions , ph decrease during mr and buffering with alkali has a catalytic effect . reactivity of different amino acids at various phs has been studied . browning of a glucose solution upon heating was obtained first when ph exceeded 5 and it increased with increasing ph . the degree of browning varied with the position of the amino group . the function of ph is linked with specific reaction steps of the mr . initially only non - protonised forms of amino acids a can form schiff &# 39 ; s base . this explains the pronounced changes in reactivity ( monitored as browning ) which happens when ph passes the isoelectric point of the amino group in the reacting amino acid . thus , optimal ph for the mr varies with the system used and how the reaction is monitored ( e . g . lysine losses or browning ). measures to inhibit the maillard reaction in cases where it is undesirable , involve lowering of the ph value , maintenance of lowest possible temperatures and avoidance of critical water contents ( moistures below 30 %, during processing and storage ), use of non - reducing sugars , and addition of sulphite ( 45 ). the use of the inhibitor , sulphur dioxide , constitutes an important way of controlling the maillard reaction . it may combine with early intermediates . however , sulphite only delays colour formation and it is interesting to note that the colour formed in sulphite - treated systems is less red and more yellow than in untreated systems . in exploiting the maillard reaction , the key target for the food industry is to understand and harness the reaction pathways enabling improvement of existing products and the development of new products . while it would be easy to assume that this means the generation of flavour and colour , not all maillard products endow positive characteristics to foods and ingredients . the positive contributions of the mr are flavour generation and colour development . the negative aspects are off - flavour development , flavour loss , discoloration , loss of nutritional value and formation of toxic maillard reaction products ( mrps ). in applying the mr , there are challenges that are common to the food industry , independent of the type of the product . these challenges can be classified as follows : maintenance of raw material quality ; maintenance of controlled processes for food production ; maintenance of product quality ; extension of product shelf - life ( 42 , 43 ). the most common route for formation of flavours via the mr comprises the interaction of á - dicarbonyl compounds ( intermediate products in the mr , stage 2 ) with amino acids through the strecker degradation reactions . alkyl pyrazines and strecker aldehydes belong to commonly found flavour compounds from mr . for example , low levels of pyrazines are formed during the processing of potato flakes when the temperature is less than 130 ° c ., but increases tenfold when the temperature is increased to 160 ° c ., and decreases at 190 ° c ., probably due to evaporation or binding to macromolecules . the aroma profile varies with the temperature and the time of heating . at any given temperature - time combination , a unique aroma , which is not likely to be produced at any other combination of heating conditions , is produced . temperature also affects the development of aroma during extrusion cooking the coloured products of the maillard reaction are of two types : the high molecular weight macromolecule materials commonly referred to as the melanoidines , and the low molecular weight coloured compounds , containing two or three heterocyclic rings ( 48 ). colour development increases with increasing temperature , with time of heating , with increasing ph and there are several reports on the formation of antioxidative mrps in food processing . the addition of amino acids or glucose to cookie dough has been shown to improve oxidative stability during the storage of the cookies . heat - treatment of milk product prior to spray drying has been reported to improve storage stability as has heat treatments of cereals ( 42 ). the antioxidant effect of the mrp has been extensively investigated ( 49 ). it has been reported that the intermediate reductone compounds of mrp could break the radical chain by donation of a hydrogen atom : mrp was also observed to have metal - chelating properties and retard lipid peroxidation . melanoidines have also been reported to be powerful scavengers of reactive oxygen species ( 50 ). recently , it was suggested that the antioxidant activity of xylose - lysine mrps may be attributed to the combined effect of reducing power , hydrogen atom donation and scavenging of reactive oxygen species ( 51 ). loss in protein quality is often associated with the mr , especially in cereal products and milk powder produced by heat - treatment . usually the essential amino acid having an extra free amino group , e . g . lysine , is most vulnerable . if the essential amino acid also is the nutritionally limiting amino acid , the influence of mr on the protein quality is substantial . this is not a problem in cooking meat and fish , since these food items are very rich in protein . loss of protein quality in terms of nutritional value is a more serious problems for heat - treatment and dehydration of especially cereals , milk and their mixtures ( breakfast cereals , gruels , bread , biscuits ), since carbohydrates dominates over proteins in these food items and the proteins levels are also generally low . the possibilities that mpr could be mutagenic and / or carcinogenic were explored with ames test , around 20 - 25 years ago . in general weak genotoxicity / mutagenic activities were found for known mprs . most attention over the past decades has been paid on the food mutagens found in the crust from cooked meat and fish . chemically , these compounds belong to a class of heterocyclic amines , currently amounting to around 20 different species . most of them have been classified as possible food carcinogens ( group 2b ) according to the international agency for research in cancer ( iarc ) based on long - term studies on rodents . the precursors of the heterocyclic amines are free amino acids and for more than half of the 20 species , also creatine ( a natural energy metabolite present in muscle cells only ). reducing sugars up to equimolar amounts compared with amino acids and / or creatine enhance the yields of heterocyclic amines markedly . thus mr and / or pyrolysis have been claimed to be important mechanisms for the formation of these heterocyclic amines , where strecker aldehydes , pyrazines or pyridines and creatine have been suggested to play an important role . the yields of these food borne carcinogens are increasing with time and temperature , especially from 150 ° c . and above . the highest concentrations of heterocyclic amines are found in the crust of pan - fried , grilled or barbecued meat and fish . in addition , gravies prepared from dried meat - juice collected from pan - residues or oven - roasting could be rich in heterocyclic amines . pro - oxidants , water activity in the optimal range for the mr , and high temperatures ( 200 - 400 ° c .) enhance their yield . the average daily exposure for heterocyclic amines is around 0 . 5 μg / day and person , with a range between 0 - 20 μg . antioxidants , excess of carbohydrates , cooking temperatures below 200 ° c . and moisture contents above 30 % reduce the occurrence of heterocyclic amines . moreover , heterocyclic amines rarely occur in plant foods even during well - done cooking ( 52 ). there is to our knowledge no report in the literature yet concerning acrylamide formation linked with the mr . the nonenzymic browning or maillard reaction is of great importance in food manufacturing and its results can be either desirable or undesirable . an example of the first kind is the brown crust formation on bread and one of the second kind is the brown discoloration of evaporated and sterilized milk . in products in which the browning reaction is favorable , the resulting color and flavor characteristics are generally experienced as pleasant . in other products , color and flavor become quite unpleasant . the browning reaction can be defined as the sequence of events which begins with the reaction of the amino group of amino acids , peptides or proteins with a glycosidic hydroxyl group of sugars and terminates with the formation of brown nitrogenous polymers or melanoidins . the reaction velocity and pattern are influenced in the first place by the nature of the reacting amino acid or protein and of the carbohydrate . this means that each kind of food may show a different browning pattern . generally , lysine is the most reactive amino acid because of the free ε - amino group . since lysine is the limiting essential amino acid in many food proteins , its destruction is of vital importance and can result in substantial reduction of the nutritional value of the protein . foods which are rich in reducing sugars are very reactive , and this explains that lysine in milk is destroyed more easily than in other foods ( fig7 ). other factors which influence the browning reaction are : temperature , ph , moisture level , oxygen , metals , phosphates , sulfur dioxide and other inhibitors . the browning reaction involves a number of steps and an outline of the total pathway of melanoidin formation has been given by hodge ( 1953 ) shown in fig8 . according to hurst ( 1972 ) five steps are involved in the process : 1 . the production of an n - substituted glycosylamine from an aldose or ketose reacting with a primary amino group of an amino acid , peptide or protein . 2 . rearrangement of the glycosylamine by an amadori rearrangement type of reaction to yield an aldoseamine or ketoseamine . 3 . a second rearrangement of the ketoseamine with a second mole of aldose to result in the formation of a diketoseamine , or the reaction of an aldoseamine with a second mole of amino to yield a diamino sugar . 4 . degradation of the amino sugars with loss of one or more molecules of water to give amino or nonamino compounds . 5 . condensation of the compound formed in step 4 with each other or with amino compounds with formation of brown pigments and polymers . the formation of glycosylamines from the reaction of amino groups and sugars is reversible ( fig9 ) and the equilibrium is highly dependent on the moisture level present . the mechanism as shown is thought to involve addition of the amine to the carbonyl group of the open - chain form of the sugar , elimination of a molecule of water , and closure of the ring . the rate is high at low water content and this explains the ease of browning in dried and concentrated foods . the amadori rearrangement of the glycosylamines involves the presence of an acid catalyst and leads to the formation of ketoseamine or 1 - amino - 1 - deoxyketose according to the scheme of fig1 . in the reaction of d - glucose with glycine the amino acid reacts as the catalyst and the compound produced is 1 - deoxy - 1 - glycino - β - d - fructose ( fig1 ). the ketoseamines are relatively stable compounds which are formed in maximum yield in systems with 18 % water content ( shallenberger and birch 1975 ). a second type of rearrangement reaction is the heyns rearrangement which is an alternative to the amadori rearrangement and leads to the same type of transformation . the mechanism of the amadori rearrangement ( fig1 ) involves protonation of the nitrogen atom at carbon 1 . the heyns rearrangement ( fig1 ) involves protonation of the oxygen at carbon 6 . secondary reactions lead to the formation of diketoseamines and diamino sugars . the formation of these compounds involves complex reactions and in contrast to the formation of the primary products does not occur on a mole for mole basis . in the following step , the ketoseamines are decomposed by 1 , 2 - enolization or 2 , 3 - enolization . the former pathway appears to be the more important one in the formation of brown color whereas the latter results in the formation of flavor products . according to hurst ( 1972 ), the 1 , 2 - enolization pathway appears to be the main one leading to browning but also contributes to formation of off - flavors through hydroxymethylfurfural , which may be a factor in causing the off - flavors in stored , overheated or dehydrated food products . the mechanism of this reaction is shown in fig1 ( hurst 1972 ). the ketoseamine ( 1 ) is protonated in acid medium to yield ( 2 ). this is changed in a reversible reaction into the 1 , 2 - enolamine ( 3 ) and this is assisted by the n substituent on carbon no . 1 . the following steps involve the β - elimination of the hydroxyl group on carbon no . 3 . in ( 4 ) the enolamine is in the free base form and converts to the schiff base ( 5 ). the schiff base may undergo hydrolysis and form the enolform ( 7 ) of 3 - deoxyosulose ( 8 ). in another step the schiff base ( 5 ) may lose a proton and the hydroxyl from carbon no . 4 to yield a new schiff base ( 6 ). both this compound and the 3 - deoxyosulose may be transformed into an unsaturated osulose ( 9 ), and by elimination of a proton and a hydroxyl group , hydroxymethylfurfural ( 10 ) is formed . following the production of 1 , 2 - enol forms of aldose and ketose amines , a series of degradations and condensations results in the formation of melanoidins . the α - β - dicarbonyl compounds enter into aldol type condensations which lead to the formation of polymers , initially of small size , highly hydrated and in colloidal form . these initial products of condensation are fluorescent and continuation of the reaction results in the formation of the brown melanoidins . these polymers are of non - distinct composition and contain varying levels of nitrogen . the composition varies with the nature of the reaction partners , ph , temperature and other conditions . the flavors produced by the maillard reaction also vary widely . in some cases , the flavor is reminiscent of carmelization . an important reaction contributing to the formation of flavor compounds is the strecker degradation of α - amino acids . the dicarbonyl compounds formed in the previously described schemes react in the following manner with α - amino acids : the amino acid is converted into an aldehyde with one less carbon atom ( schönberg and moubacher 1952 ). some of the compounds of browning flavor have been described by hodge et al . ( 1972 ). corny , nutty , bready and crackery - aroma compounds consist of planar unsaturated heterocyclic compounds with one or two nitrogen atoms in the ring . other important members of this group are partially saturated n - heterocyclics with alkyl or acetyl group substituents . compounds that contribute to pungent , burnt aromas are listed in table 3 . these are mostly vicinal polycarbonyl compounds and α , β - unsaturated aldehydes . they condense rapidly to form melanoidins . the strecker degradation aldehydes contribute to the aroma of bread , peanuts , cocoa and other roasted foods . although acetic , phenylacetic , isobutyric and isovaleric aldehydes are prominent in the aromas of bread , malt , peanuts and cocoa , they are not really characteristic of these foods ( hodge et al . 1972 ). a somewhat different mechanism for the browning reaction has been proposed by burton and mcweeney ( 1964 ) and is shown in fig1 . after formation of the aldosylamine , dehydration reactions result in the production of 4 - to 6 - membered ring compounds . when the reaction proceeds under conditions of moderate heating , fluorescent nitrogenous compounds are formed and these react rapidly with glycine to yield melanoidins . the influence of reaction components and reaction conditions results in a wide variety of reaction patterns . many of these conditions are interdependent . increasing temperature results in a rapidly increasing rate of browning , and not only reaction rate , but also the pattern of the reaction may change with temperature . in model systems , the rate of browning increases 2 - 3 times for each 10 ° rise in temperature . in foods containing fructose , the increase may be 5 to 10 times for each 10 ° rise . at high sugar contents , the rate may be even more rapid . temperature also affects the composition of the pigment formed . at higher temperatures , the carbon content of the pigment increases and more pigment is formed per mole of carbon dioxide released . color intensity of the pigment increases with increasing temperature . the effect of temperature on the reaction rate of d - glucose with dl - leucine is demonstrated in fig1 . in the maillard reaction , the basic amino group disappears and , therefore , the initial ph or the presence of a buffer has an important effect on the reaction . the browning reaction is slowed down by decreasing ph , and the browning reaction can be said to be self - inhibitory since the ph decreases with the loss of the basic amino group . the effect of ph on the reaction rate of d - glucose with dl - leucine is demonstrated in fig1 . the effect of ph on the browning reaction is highly dependent on moisture content . when a large amount of water is present , most of the browning is caused by caramelization , but at low water levels and at ph greater than 6 , the maillard reaction is predominant . the nature of the sugars in a nonenzymic browning reaction determines their reactivity . reactivity is related to their conformational stability or to the amount of open - chain structure present in solution . pentoses are more reactive than hexoses , and hexoses more than reducing disaccharides . nonreducing disaccharides only react after hydrolsys has taken place . the order of reactivity of some of the aldohexoses is mannose & gt ; galactose & gt ; glucose . the effect of the type of amino acid can be summarized as follows . in the α - amino acid series , glycine is the most reactive . longer and more complex substituent groups reduce the rate of browning . in the w - amino acid series , browning rate increases with increasing chain length . ornithine browns more rapidly than lysine . when the reactant is a protein , particular sites in the molecule may react faster than others . in proteins , the ε - amino group of lysine is particularly vulnerable to attack by aldoses and ketoses . methods of preventing browning could consist of measures intended to slow reaction rates , such as control of moisture , temperature or ph or removal of an active intermediate . generally , it is easier to use an inhibitor . one of the most effective inhibitors of browning is sulfur dioxide . the action of sulfur dioxide is unique and no other suitable inhibitor has been found . it is known that sulfite can combine with the carbonyl group of an aldose to give an addition compound : but this reaction cannot possibly account for the inhibitory effect of sulfite . it is thought that sulfur dioxide reacts with the degradation products of the amino sugars which prevents these compounds from condensation into melanoidins . a serious drawback of the use of sulfur dioxide is that it reacts with thiamine and proteins , thereby reducing the nutritional value of foods . sulfur dioxide destroys thiamine and is , therefore , not permitted for use in foods containing this vitamin . during processing and storage , a number of chemical changes may occur in food proteins , some of which are desirable , others undesirable . such chemical changes may lead to compounds which are non - hydrolyzable by intestinal enzymes or to modification of the peptide side chains which render certain amino acids unavailable . mild heat treatments in the presence of water can significantly improve the nutritional value in some cases . sulfur - containing amino acids may become more available and certain antinutritional factors such as the trypsin inhibitors of soybeans may be deactivated . excessive heat in the absence of water can be detrimental to protein quality , e . g ., in fish proteins tryptophan , arginine , methionine and lysine may be damaged . a number of chemical reactions may take place during heat treatment including decomposition , dehydration of serine and threonine , loss of sulfur from cysteine , oxidation of cysteme and methionine , cyclization of glutamic and aspartic acid and threonine ( mauron 1970 ). one of the most important changes resulting in decomposition of certain amino acids is the non - enzymic browning reaction or maillard reaction . for this reaction , the presence of a reducing sugar is required . heat damage may also occur in the absence of sugars . bjarnason and carpenter ( 1970 ) demonstrated that heating of bovine plasma albumin for 27 hours at 115 ° c . resulted in a 50 % loss of cystine and 4 % of lysine . these authors suggest that amide type bonds are formed by reaction between the ε - amino group of lysine and the amide groups of asparagine or glutamine , with the reacting units present either in the same peptide chain or in neighboring ones . some amino acids may be oxidized by reacting with free radicals formed by lipid oxidation . methionine can react with a lipid peroxide to yield methionine sulfoxide . cysteine can be decomposed by a lipid free radical according to the following scheme in fig1 . all publications mentioned in the above specification are herein incorporated by reference . various modifications and variations of the described methods and system of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments , it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments . indeed , various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in chemistry or related fields are intended to be within the scope of the following claims .
there is provided a process for the prevention and / or reduction of acrylamide formation and / or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff containing a protein , a peptide or an amino acid and a reducing sugar , the process comprising contacting the foodstuff with an enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of the sugar .