Mitigation of the processing contaminant acrylamide in bread by reducing asparagine in the bread dough

Over the past few years there has been an increasing awareness regarding acrylamide (AAM) content of various foods. Although there are several relevant articles on AAM mitigation in industrially prepared products, the literature regarding homemade preparations is rather scarce. The objective of this study is to mitigate the AAM formation in baked buns made with 1:1 sifted wheat/wholegrain flour through the depletion of asparagine (ASN) in the bread dough. Using a full-factorial design, the effect of four factors (yeast amount, fermentation time, fermentation temperature and yeast types) was tested. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used for AAM and its main precursor, ASN, determination. The resulting ASN depletion in the dough (68-89%) is significantly affected by fermentation time and yeast type, while AAM mitigation levels in the baked buns are significantly influenced by yeast amount, fermentation time and yeast type. The mean concentrations for each combination range between 5 and 15 µg kg(-)(1).