Process contaminants

Heat treatment of food serves to ensure microbial safety, longer sustainability, increase digestibility, but also to improve sensory properties such as taste, smell or color of food. The formation of these sensory active compounds is accompanied by many chemical reactions, the most important of which is the Maillard reaction. In addition to the desirable properties, so-called processing contaminants also occur, which may be probable or potential human carcinogens. The aim in such a case is to find ways to minimize the formation of these compounds in food without affecting their nutritional and sensory value.

Our research group investigates the influence of alternative mild processing technologies (e.g. vacuum frying, pulsed electric field, ohmic heating, heat sterilization under high pressure) on the formation of processing contaminants (acrylamide, furans, esters of 2- and 3-monochloropropanediol and glycidol) and on the content of biologically active compounds.