Hydrocolloid effects on Nε-carboxymethyllysine and acrylamide of deep-fried fish nuggets

The safety of breaded and deep-fried foods has received more attention recently. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of hydrocolloids on the contents of Nε-carboxymethyllysine (CML) and acrylamide (AA) in breaded fish nuggets, and the relationship between the AA, CML and physicochemical properties. The CML and AA were found mainly in the fish crust. For the interior of fish nuggets, CML content was far lower than the crust and no AA was detected. Chitosan (CH) and gum Arabic (GA) could significantly reduce the CML content of fish crust by ~40–50%. However, the use of xanthan gum (XG) significantly increased the CML content of fish crust (p < 0.05). All hydrocolloids had an inhibitory effect on acrylamide (p < 0.05), of which 0.5% GA or CH had the greatest effects. The correlation analysis showed that the inhibitory effect of CH and GA on CML might be attributed to their higher moisture and lower oil contents. The inhibitory effect of all hydrocolloids on AA might be attributed to the decreased extent of Maillard reactions. The addition of 0.5 and 1% CH and GA significantly reduced both the AA and CML content of the fish crust (p < 0.05). This provided a basis for improving the nutritional quality and reducing the safety concerns when consuming breaded and deep-fried foods.