Acrylamide content of experimental flatbreads prepared from potato, quinoa, and wheat flours with added commercial fruit and vegetable peels and mushroom powders

Authors: CRAWFORD, LAUREN - University Of California, Davis; Kahlon, Talwinder; WANG, SELINA - University Of California, Davis; Friedman, Mendel

Submitted to: Foods
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/24/2019
Publication Date: 6/26/2019
Citation: Crawford, L.M., Kahlon, T.S., Wang, S.C., Friedman, M. 2019. Acrylamide content of experimental flatbreads prepared from potato, quinoa, and wheat flours with added commercial fruit and vegetable peels and mushroom powders. Foods. 8(7):228. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8070228.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8070228

Interpretive Summary: The present study shows that the validated acrylamide analysis method had a very low 1.8 µg/kg (1.8 parts-per-billion) detection limit, and that adding a variety of fruit and vegetable peels and mushroom powders containing bioactive compounds to potato, quinoa, and wheat flours did not interfere with the analysis of acrylamide in the newly developed flatbreads. It was, however, surprising that the added peel powders caused increases in acrylamide content of some flatbreads by unknown mechanisms yet had no effect in others. The finding that the addition of the three mushroom powders consistently did not enhance acrylamide levels is interesting and indicates their potential suitability for further investigation for use in creating healthier flatbreads. The levels of acrylamide in quinoa flatbreads, which were found to be low, also did not increase with the addition of most peel and mushroom powders. This finding implies that the newly created gluten-free quinoa flatbreads with high nutritional quality and potential health benefits that might be associated with the added peel and mushroom powders may be considered as a functional food. Although potato proteins are also of high nutritional quality, the peel powder-supplemented potato flatbreads experienced significant increases in the acrylamide content. The variable acrylamide results with the supplemented wheat flour, whose proteins are of low nutritional quality, suggest that some wheat flatbreads with added peel and mushroom powders also deserve further study for their potential functionality.

Technical Abstract: Flatbreads are a major food consumed worldwide. Because flatbreads are produced by baking plant-based flours, there is the possibility that they contain undesirable levels of the potentially toxic compound acrylamide, which is formed at high temperatures in starchy foods. To mitigate this undesirable safety aspect of flatbreads, we recently developed recipes using a variety of grains that resulted in the production of low-acrylamide flatbreads. In this work, to further enhance the functionality of flatbreads, we have developed new experimental flatbreads using potato, quinoa, and wheat flours supplemented with peel powders prepared from commercial nonorganic and organic fruits and vegetables (apples, cherry tomatoes, melons, oranges, pepino melons, sweet potato yams), potato peels from the industrial production of French fries, and three commercial mushroom powders (Lion’s Mane, Hericium erinaceus; Reishi, Ganoderma lucidum; and Turkey Tail, Trametes versicolor). These additives have all been reported to contain beneficial compositional and health properties. The results of fortification of the baked flatbreads showed either no effect or increases in acrylamide content by unknown mechanisms. Because, for most part, the additives did not increase the acrylamide content of the quinoa flour flatbreads, such supplemented quinoa flatbreads have the potential to serve as a nutritional, gluten-free, low-acrylamide, health-promoting functional food. Mushroom powder-fortified wheat flatbreads with relatively low acrylamide content might also have health benefits. The reported dietary and health significance of the additives is discussed. Further clinical studies are needed to investigate the health benefits of the new flatbreads.