Reducing Acrylamide Levels in Processed Potato

Foods rich in the amino acid asparagine, such as wheat and potato, naturally produce acrylamide when exposed to high temperatures for example in frying, roasting or baking. Laboratory studies have shown that high doses of acrylamide cause cancer in animals. In humans, daily intake of 3.0 µg (one millionth of a gram) acrylamide is considered to be safe. This level of dietary intake, however, is exceeded in small subsets of the population, particularly in young children and adolescents. 

In an attempt to limit the accumulation of acrylamide in processed potato, which contributes to approximately one-third of the average dietary intake of the compound, a group of researchers from Simplot Plant Sciences in the U.S. silenced the expression of two asparagine synthase genes in potato tubers. The genetically modified potato lines were found to contain up to 20-fold reduced levels of free asparagine. Heat processed products obtained from the transformed tubers were found to contain 95 percent less acrylamide compared to their non-GM counterparts. The authors said that given the important role of processed potato products in the Western diet, replacement of current varieties with the GM potatoes could reduce the average daily intake of acrylamide by almost one-third.

Download the open access paper published by Plant Biotechnology Journal at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/120849002/PDFSTART