Formation and source analysis of potentially hazardous compounds in fried pepper sauce under different high‐temperature stir‐fry conditions

Summary In order to investigate the formation and main sources of potentially hazardous compounds in fried pepper sauce (FPS) during the high‐temperature frying process, this study analysed the dynamic changes to the lipid oxidation indices (peroxide value, carbonyl value, polar components and malondialdehyde), components of raw materials and excipients (total sugar, reducing sugars and amino acids) and contents of potentially hazardous compounds (trans‐fatty acids, benzo[a]pyrene and acrylamide) under different cooking conditions. Path analysis was applied to explore the relationships among the study variables. The results show that low‐temperature frying (<190 °C) is beneficial to improve the safety of FPS products. The formation of trans‐fatty acids is mainly related to the elevated carbonyl content caused by the high‐temperature oxidation of lipids. The total sugar, reducing sugars and amino acids in pepper powder and the other ingredients were mainly responsible for the increase in the content of benzo[a]pyrene and acrylamide, which showed a weak correlation with lipid oxidation. Acrylamide is the main hazardous compound in FPS under high‐temperature frying. Therefore, regulating the high‐temperature process and the composition of the raw materials and excipients are beneficial to the high‐quality production of FPS.