posted on 2020-07-01, 16:39authored byRosario Zamora, Cristina M. Lavado-Tena, Francisco J. Hidalgo
Food processing is responsible for
the destruction of some health
hazards, but it is responsible for the formation of new ones. Among
them, the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) has received
a considerable attention because of their carcinogenicity. In spite
of this, HAA formation is still poorly understood. This study was
undertaken to identify precursors and formation pathways for 2-amino-3-methylimidazo(4,5-f)quinoline (IQ). IQ was produced by reaction of acrolein,
crotonaldehyde, creatinine, and ammonia. Reaction conditions were
studied, and its activation energy (Ea) was determined to be 77.0 ± 1.3 kJ/mol. IQ formation was always
accompanied by the formation of the HAA 2-amino-3,4-dimethylimidazo(4,5-f)quinoline (MeIQ), which was produced with an Ea of 72.2 ± 0.4 kJ/mol. A reaction pathway for the
competitive formation of IQ and MeIQ is proposed. Obtained results
demonstrate the significant role of reactive carbonyls (the food carbonylome)
in HAA formation and provide evidences for designing HAA mitigation
strategies.