Determination of acrylamide levels in selected commercial and traditional foods in Syria

Purpose: To determine acrylamide (AA) levels in different brands of commercial and traditional foodstuffs available in Syria by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometery (UPLCMS).
Methods: A total of 63 samples were analyzed. Food samples were defatted by hexane and then extracted with methanol 98 % in a vortex mixer. Thereafter, Carrez I and Carrez II were added to precipitate proteins from the co-extractives and then centrifuged to obtain a clear aqueous extract that was evaporated to dryness. The extract was dissolved in 1 mL of water, eluted through a preconditioned Oasis HLB cartridge and then filtered. The filtrate was analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS to determine AA content.
Results: Among the commercial foods tested, the highest acrylamide quantity was found in potato products (396 ± 3.59 – 1844 ± 5.29 μg kg⁻¹) and the lowest in corn products (183 ± 2.64 – 366 ± 4.58 μg kg⁻¹). This was followed by biscuits (57 ± 2.64 – 1433 ± 2.51 μg kg⁻¹), breakfast cereals (121 ± 8.73 – 245 ± 3.60 μg kg⁻¹), bread (119 ± 1.73 – 263 ± 3.60 μg kg⁻¹) and then coffee (113 ± 2.64 - 64 ± 3.05 μg kg⁻¹). Regarding traditional foods, the highest level of AA was found in AL- Mshabak (481 ± 2.08 μg kg⁻¹) and AL-Awamat (421 ± 2.64 μg kg⁻¹) followed by AL-Namora (282 ± 4.35 μg kg⁻¹) and AL-Kenafa (242 ± 2.64 μg kg⁻¹). It was also observed that the lowest amount of AA was in fried bread (230 μg kg⁻¹), AL-Fatayer (192 ± 3.51 μg kg⁻¹) and AL-Baqlawa (172 ± 4.35 μg kg⁻¹) while Eid Aqras (130 ± 4.58 μg kg⁻¹) and AL-Brazeq (167 ± 3.78 μg kg⁻) contained the least amount of AA.
Conclusion: The results indicate that the highest levels of AA are found in the most commonly consumed foods. There was significant difference (p < 0.05) in AA levels among different food items and within different brands of the same product.

Keywords
Acrylamide; Commercial foods; Traditional foods; Syrian food; Contaminants; UPLCMS/ MS