Acrylamide-forming potential of potatoes grown at different locations, and the ratio of free asparagine to reducing sugars at which free asparagine becomes a limiting factor for acrylamide formation.

Acrylamide is produced from free asparagine and reducing sugars during high-temperature cooking and food processing, and potato products are major contributors to dietary acrylamide intake. The present study analysed twenty varieties of potatoes grown at two sites (Doncaster and Woburn) in the United Kingdom to assess the effect of location of cultivation on acrylamide-forming potential. Analysis of variance revealed a full site by variety nested within type (French fry, boiling and crisping) by storage interaction for acrylamide (p<0.

Acrylamide in potato crisps prepared from 20 UK-grown varieties: effects of variety and tuber storage time.

Twenty varieties of field-grown potato were stored for 2 months and 6 months at 8 °C. Mean acrylamide contents in crisps prepared from all varieties at both storage times ranged from 131 μg/kg in Verdi to 5360 μg/kg in Pentland Dell. In contrast to previous studies, the longer storage period did not affect acrylamide formation significantly for most varieties, the exceptions being Innovator, where acrylamide formation increased, and Saturna, where it decreased.

Effects of water availability on free amino acids, sugars, and acrylamide-forming potential in potato.

Irrigation is used frequently in potato cultivation to maximize yield, but water availability may also affect the composition of the crop, with implications for processing properties and food safety. Five varieties of potatoes, including drought-tolerant and -sensitive types, which had been grown with and without irrigation, were analyzed to show the effect of water supply on concentrations of free asparagine, other free amino acids, and sugars and on the acrylamide-forming potential of the tubers. Two varieties were also analyzed under more severe drought stress in a glasshouse.

Evidence for the complex relationship between free amino acid and sugar concentrations and acrylamide-forming potential in potato.

Free amino acids and reducing sugars participate in the Maillard reaction during high-temperature cooking and processing. This results not only in the formation of colour, aroma and flavour compounds, but also undesirable contaminants, including acrylamide, which forms when the amino acid that participates in the reaction is asparagine. In this study, tubers of 13 varieties of potato (), which had been produced in a field trial in 2010 and sampled immediately after harvest or after storage for 6 months, were analysed to show the relationship between the concentrations of free asparagine, other free amino acids, sugars and acrylamide-forming potential.

Expression analysis of abscisic acid (ABA) and metabolic signalling factors in developing endosperm and embryo of barley.

The expression of genes encoding components of ABA and metabolic signalling pathways in developing barley endosperm and embryo was investigated. The genes included and (encoding ABA receptors), (protein phosphatase 2C), , and (SnRK2-type protein kinases) and (ABA response element binding protein; AREBP), as well as two genes encoding SnRK1-type protein kinases. Both SnRK1 and SnRK2 phosphorylate AREBPs, but SnRK2 is activated by ABA whereas SnRK1 may be broken down.