Potatoes and other foods that have a high content of the amino acid asparagine and a high accumulation of reducing sugars are subject to the formation of acrylamide upon frying. The objectives of this research were (1) to analyze the level of acrylamide formed during deep-fat frying of potato chips and (2) to evaluate means of reducing acrylamide in potato chips by using different potato cultivars and vacuum frying. Several potato cultivars were used in this research, including Innovator (I), NDTX 4930-5W (N), ATX 854 04-8W (ATw), Atlantic (A), Shepody (S), ATX847806-2Ru (ATr), and White-Rose (W ). An electric bench-top (atmospheric conditions)-type fryer was used to fry the potatoes. Three temperatures were used: 150°C, 165°C, and 180°C. The vacuum frying experiments were performed at 118°C, 125°C, and 140°C and a vacuum pressure of 10 Torr. The potatoes were sliced (1.5-mm thick) and fried for different lengths of times. For potatoes fried at 165°C (for 4 min) at atmospheric conditions, the acrylamide contents were 5021 Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ 55 ppb (W), 552 Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ 25 ppb (I), 358 Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ 50 ppb (N), 397 Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ 25 ppb (ATw), 646 Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ 55 ppb (A), 466 Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ 15 ppb(S), and 537 Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ Ϯ 14 ppb (ATr). Vacuum frying reduced acrylamide formation by 94%. Results showed that both cultivar and modified frying systems can play an important role in reducing acrylamide formation in fried potatoes. As the frying temperature decreased from 180°C to 165°C, acrylamide content in potato chips reduced by 51% during traditional frying and by 63% as the temperature decreased from 140°C to 125°C in vacuum frying. Increased frying time increased acrylamide formation during traditional frying for all temperatures and frying methods analyzed. However, the effect on acrylamide concentration was greater for the traditional frying than the vacuum frying.

Acrylamide is considered a carcinogen in animals and a possible carcinogen in humans. It has been found in starch‐rich foods cooked at high temperatures. Vacuum frying (10 Torr) was investigated as a possible alternative to reduce acrylamide formation in potato chips. The cultivar Atlantic was used to determine the kinetics of acrylamide formation during traditional and vacuum frying at different temperatures. There was a 94% decrease in acrylamide content when potatoes were fried to the same final moisture content (1.5% ± 0.3% w.b.) under vacuum compared to those fried under atmospheric conditions. Acrylamide accumulation under vacuum frying was modeled using first‐order kinetics (during traditional frying, the logistic kinetic model was used). The behavior of the kinetics of acrylamide content in potato chips fried under the two processes was different mainly because of the different temperatures used. During traditional frying, higher temperatures are used (150 to 180C) and acrylamide after some time is produced but starts degrading, producing a constant level of acrylamide content at longer times. During vacuum frying (10 Torr), acrylamide increased exponentially (but at lower levels) for all frying times.

JFS E: Food Engineering and Physical Properties with similar color had very different acrylamide concentrations. with similar color had very different acrylamide concentrations. with similar color had very different acrylamide concentrations. with similar color had very different acrylamide concentrations.