Deep-frying leads to the generation of various degradation products providing desired properties, like aroma, taste, or color, but some can have adverse effects on human health. The study investigated the influence of frying oils differing in their fatty acid compositions on the generation of desirable and undesirable compounds during deep-frying of potato chips. Selected key odorants and toxicologically relevant compounds (acrolein, acrylamide, furan, and glycidamide) were quantitated by stable isotope dilution assays. Significantly higher concentrations of (E,E)-2,4-decadienal and (E,Z)-2,4-decadienal were found in chips fried with oils rich in linoleic acid, the precursor of the 2,4-decadienals. In contrast, the amounts of Strecker aldehydes and pyrazines were similar. Oils rich in linolenic acid revealed the highest amounts of the toxicologically relevant (E)-2-alkenal acrolein, whereas oils mainly consisting of monounsaturated or saturated fatty acids led to a clearly lower amount. Acrylamide and glycidamide concentrations in chips also showed a clear dependence on the used frying medium, in contrast to furan, whose amount was more or less similar in all chips.
Keywords: acrolein; acrylamide; deep-frying; fat and oil; food-borne toxicant; furan; glycidamide; key aroma compounds; potato chips.