Formation of Acrylamide from Lipids

Heating amino acids with dietary oils or animal fats at elevated temperatures produced various amounts of acrylamide. The amount of acrylamide formation corresponded to the degree of unsaturation of the oils and animal fats. The decreasing order of acrylamide formation from dietary oils or animal fats with asparagine was sardine oil (642 μg/g asparagine) > cod liver oil (435.4 μg/g) > soybean oil (135.8 μg/g) > corn oil (80.7 μg/g) > olive oil (73.6 μg/g) > canola oil (70.7 μg/g) > corn oil (62.1 μg/g) > beef fat (59.3 μg/g) > lard (36.0 μg/g). Three-carbon unit compounds such as acrylic acid and acrolein, which are formed from lipids by oxidation also produced acrylamide by heat treatment with amino acids, in particular with asparagine. The results of the present study suggest that acrylamide forms in asparagine-rich foods during deep fat frying in the absence reducing sugars.