Effect of water activity in tortilla and its relationship on the acrylamide content after frying

• Water activity affects the acrylamide content in tortilla chips.
• Minimum integral entropy is a reliable indicator to get a reduction of acrylamide in tortilla after frying.
• Tortilla dehydration to the minimum integral entropy reduces the acrylamide content.
• Products obtained from stored tortilla showed an acceptable texture and appearance.

The objective of this study was to relate the tortilla minimum integral desorption entropy with acrylamide content during processing of tortilla chips. Tortilla pieces were stored at 30 °C at aw of 0.11–0.84 for 4 days and fried later in soybean oil at 180 °C for 25 s. The lowest acrylamide content was observed in tortilla chips made of non-stored tortilla (aw = 0.98) as well as in those prepared from tortilla stored in the minimum integral entropy (aw = 0.53). In addition, the color and texture values were similar in both cases. These results suggest that the reduction of the acrylamide content during processing of tortilla chips and other tortilla based foods thermally processed might be modified by factors such as moisture content, aw, and the physical state of water in the tortilla. Thus, the minimum integral entropy showed to be a reliable indicator to establish the most appropriate moisture conditions to obtain tortilla chips with reduced level of acrylamide when tortilla is dehydrated.