Relation between the acrylamide formation and time–temperature history of surface and core regions of French fries

This paper investigates the effect of frying time and temperature on acrylamide formation in the surface and core regions of French fries. Surface and core temperatures of the potato strip were monitored during frying at 150, 170 and 190 °C. The core temperature did not exceed 103–104 °C within 9 min of frying regardless of the frying temperature, whereas the temperatures attained in the surface were much higher. The results showed that there was a large difference between the acrylamide concentrations of the surface and the core regions. Acrylamide content of the surface was found to be 72, 2747 and 6476 ng/g after frying for 9 min at 150, 170 and 190 °C, respectively. The core was free of acrylamide after frying for 9 min at 150 and 170 °C, while only 376 ng/g of acrylamide was formed at 190 °C. Although the surface temperature did not exceed 120 °C during 9 min of frying at 150 °C, formation of acrylamide at this temperature suggests that the temperature need not be higher than 120 °C for acrylamide to form.