Heterocyclic aromatic amines in domestically prepared chicken and fish from Singapore Chinese households

Chicken and fish samples prepared by 42 Singapore Chinese in their homes were obtained. Researchers were present to collect data on raw sample weight, cooking time, maximum cooking surface temperature, and cooked sample weight. Each participant prepared one pan-fried fish sample and two pan-fried chicken samples, one marinated, one not marinated. The cooked samples were analyzed for five heterocyclic aromatic amine (HAA) mutagens, including MeIQx (2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline); 4,8-DiMeIQx (2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline); 7,8-DiMeIQx (2-amino-3,7,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline); PhIP (2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine), and IFP (2-amino-(1,6-dimethylfuro[3,2-e]imidazo[4,5-b])pyridine). A paired Student’s t-test showed that marinated chicken had lower concentrations of PhIP (p < 0.05), but higher concentrations of MeIQx (p < 0.05) and 4,8-DiMeIQx (p < 0.001) than non-marinated chicken, and also that weight loss due to cooking was less in marinated chicken than in non-marinated chicken (p < 0.001). Interestingly, the maximum cooking surface temperature was higher for fish than for either marinated or non-marinated chicken (p < 0.001), yet fish was lower in 4,8-DiMeIQx per gram than marinated or non-marinated chicken (p < 0.001), lower in PhIP than non-marinated chicken (p < 0.05), and lost less weight due to cooking than either marinated or non-marinated chicken (p < 0.001). Fish was also lower in MeIQx and 7,8-DiMeIQx than marinated chicken (p < 0.05). This study provides new information on HAA content in the Singapore Chinese diet.