Effect of Thermal Processing on Simultaneous Formation of Acrylamide and Hydroxymethylfurfural in Plum Puree

The formation of acrylamide (ACR) and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) at different time and temperature combination in plum puree derived from two species was investigated. An optimized method for reducing ACR and HMF formation in thermally-treated plum puree was developed using a Central Composite Design model. Precursors of contaminants and their influence on the heating of plum puree were evaluated as well. The contaminants content was determined in thirteen running variants in the temperature range of 59.3-200.7 degrees C, and heating time between 5.9 and 34.1 min. The model allowed establishing that the lowest ACR content was reached at 5.9-min exposure time and 130 degrees C temperature, for both plum species (3.91 mu g/kg and 8.73 mu g/kg for Prunus cerasifera (P1) and Prunus domestica (P2), respectively). The lowest quantity of HMF was found at 20-min exposure time and 59.3 degrees C temperature for both plum species (0.25 mg/kg and 0.18 mg/kg for P1 and P2, respectively). The results obtained allowed predicting the ACR/HMF levels in plum puree at different heating conditions.