Antioxidant activity and reduction potential of dietary herbs on acrylamide formation in asparagine-glucose reaction model

Natural ingredients are increasingly being used to prevent the formation of acrylamide during food processing. This study investigated the antioxidant activities of Ocimum basilicum (basil), Lippia adoensis var. adoensis (kesse), Lippia adoensis var. koseret (koseret), Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary), and Thymus schimperi (tosign) extracts and their acrylamide reduction effect in the asparagine-glucose model system. Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride methods were used to calculate the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC). Antioxidant activities were determined using 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picryl-Hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging and phosphomolybdenum assay methods. Acrylamide contents of the samples were determined by a reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC-DAD) method. Kesse had the highest concentrations of TPC (30.20 ± 1.23 mg gallic acid equivalent per gram of herb extract), TFC (15.87 ± 0.55 mg catechin equivalents per gram), and the strongest DPPH scavenging activity (IC50 = 108 μg/mL). The amount of acrylamide formed during the frying process was decreased by a factor of 26.8% to 65.81% with the addition of dietary herb extracts to the asparagine-glucose reaction model. The amount of acrylamide formed from an asparagine-glucose reaction model containing herb extracts was negatively correlated with the total phenolic and total flavonoid content with, R2 values of 0.920 and 0.930. This study suggests a potential application of these dietary herb extracts as a natural antioxidant for lowering acrylamide formation during the Maillard reaction in fried food products.