Acrylamide and hydroxymethylfurfural in cakes: An approach to reduce the formation of processing contaminants in sweet bakery products.

In bakery products, beyond the heat treatment conditions, the type of flour and the combination with other ingredients in different ratios can increase or mitigate the formation of processing contaminants. In this study, a central composite design and a principal component analysis (PCA) were used to assess how the formulation affects the formation of acrylamide (AA) and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in wholemeal and white cakes. The HMF levels (45-138 µg/kg) were up to 13 times lower than the AA (393-970 µg/kg) in cakes. The PCA showed that the proteins increased the AA formation during the dough baking, while the reducing sugar and the browning index were related to HMF formation in the cake crust. The total daily exposure of AA + HMF when consuming wholemeal cake is 1.8 times higher than white cake consumption, in which the values of margin of exposure (MOE), below < 10,000, demonstrated that AA showed a greater risk of exposure than HMF (MOE values > 10,000). Therefore, a good strategy to avoid high AA levels in cakes is to use of refined wheat flour and water in the formulation. In contrast, the advantage of wholemeal cake about their nutritional value should not be disregarded, thus, the use of water in its preparation and moderate consumption are strategies that could be adopted to reduce the risk of exposure to AA.

Tricothecenes and enzyme activities in the mashing step of the brewing process.

The relation between contamination by trichothecenes, DON (Deoxyvalenol) and 15-ADON (15-acetil-deoxyvalenol), and enzymes, protease, ß-amylase and α-amylase, in the mashing step was studied. Malted barley was subject to mashing at three temperature ramps, which resulted in enzyme extracts. Enzyme activity of the extract was evaluated in a model solution with DON and 15-ADON. Results indicated that activities of protease and ß-amylase are changed by trichothecenes. Reduction in 15-ADON concentration was 100% when the initial concentration was 0.23 µg mL-1 and 74, 72 and 92% when it was 0.85 µg mL-1, under activities of protease, ß-amylase and α-amylase, respectively. On the other hand, DON concentration increased 45 and 30% under protease and ß-amylase activities, respectively. Malt contamination by DON and 15-ADON can affect enzyme activity and modify the process yield, which may cause economic losses.