Scientific Study

Acrylamide was applied onto table salt and heated in a glass reaction vessel within the temperature range 50 to 210 degrees C with a heating rate of 2 degrees C/min in order to study the influence of temperature and table salt on acrylamide elimination. For comparison purposes; pure acrylamide was also heated at the same conditions to 190 degrees C. Both systems were analyzed for acrylamide amount by GC-MS. During heating; the amount of acrylamide in contact with table salt decreased from 99.9 to 67.7 microg while the amount of acrylamide without table salt decreased from 99.9 to 81.3 microg; obviously due to polymerization reactions taking place in both studied systems. Comparing the results it was found that table salt has substantial catalytic effects on the polymerization reactions. Based on the treatment of experimental results; the parameters characterizing the kinetics of acrylamide polymerization; for example; the rate of its elimination at nonisothermal conditions; have been obtained; also making possible the calculation of rate constant values for any temperature in isothermal regime. As concluded; the polymerization may represent one of conceivable pathways of acrylamide elimination in a real food matrix.