Department of Plant Science, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ, UK.
J Exp Bot. 2012 May;63(8):2841-51. doi: 10.1093/jxb/ers011. Epub 2012 Feb 16.
Acrylamide, a chemical that is probably carcinogenic in humans and has neurological and reproductive effects, forms from free asparagine and reducing sugars during high-temperature cooking and processing of common foods. Potato and cereal products are major contributors to dietary exposure to acrylamide and while the food industry reacted rapidly to the discovery of acrylamide in some of the most popular foods, the issue remains a difficult one for many sectors. Efforts to reduce acrylamide formation would be greatly facilitated by the development of crop varieties with lower concentrations of free asparagine and/or reducing sugars, and of best agronomic practice to ensure that concentrations are kept as low as possible. This review describes how acrylamide is formed, the factors affecting free asparagine and sugar concentrations in crop plants, and the sometimes complex relationship between precursor concentration and acrylamide-forming potential. It covers some of the strategies being used to reduce free asparagine and sugar concentrations through genetic modification and other genetic techniques, such as the identification of quantitative trait loci. The link between acrylamide formation, flavour, and colour is discussed, as well as the difficulty of balancing the unknown risk of exposure to acrylamide in the levels that are present in foods with the well-established health benefits of some of the foods concerned.
丙烯酰胺是一种可能对人类致癌的化学物质，具有神经毒性和生殖毒性，它会在高温烹饪和加工常见食品的过程中，由游离天门冬酰胺和还原糖形成。马铃薯和谷物产品是膳食中丙烯酰胺暴露的主要来源，尽管食品行业对一些最受欢迎的食品中发现丙烯酰胺做出了迅速反应，但这个问题对许多行业来说仍然是一个难题。如果能够开发出游离天门冬酰胺和/或还原糖浓度较低的作物品种，并采用最佳农业实践确保将其浓度保持在尽可能低的水平，那么减少丙烯酰胺形成的努力将得到极大的促进。本文综述了丙烯酰胺的形成方式、影响作物中游离天门冬酰胺和糖浓度的因素，以及前体浓度与丙烯酰胺形成潜力之间有时复杂的关系。本文还介绍了一些通过遗传修饰和其他遗传技术（如数量性状位点的鉴定）来降低游离天门冬酰胺和糖浓度的策略。讨论了丙烯酰胺形成与风味和色泽之间的关系，以及在存在于食品中的未知丙烯酰胺暴露风险与某些相关食品的既定健康益处之间取得平衡的困难。
