Correlations between the amounts of free asparagine and saccharides present in commercial cereal flours in the United Kingdom and the generation of acrylamide during cooking.

A range of commercially available cereals (mainly rye and wheat) used to manufacture U.K. bakery products were obtained, and the levels of free amino acids and sugars were measured. Selected samples were cooked as flours and doughs to generate acrylamide and the data compared with those obtained from a model system using dough samples that had been additionally fortified with asparagine (Asn) and sugars (glucose, fructose, maltose, and sucrose). In cooked flours and doughs, Asn was the key determinant of acrylamide generation. A significant finding for biscuit and rye flours was that levels of Asn were correlated with fructose and glucose. The results suggest that for these commercial cereals, selection based on low fructose and glucose contents, and hence low asparagine, could be beneficial in reducing acrylamide in products (e.g., crackers and crispbreads) that have no added sugars.