Less Arcylamide in special potato varieties - These are the healthier potatoes

Certain potato varieties contain significantly less acrylamide
Many people in Germany like to eat chips. But such a meal is not really healthy. It has long been known that fries can contain a lot of fat and make it fat. In addition, they contain acrylamide, this substance is formed when the potatoes are heated too much. Acrylamide is said to be carcinogenic. The amount of acrylamide produced during processing is lower for some potato varieties. So chips would be healthier for our body. Researchers from the "University of Idaho" tried to find out in a study, which varieties are and published their findings in the journal "Crop Science".
When heated, acrylamide forms in French fries which is suspected to have a carcinogenic effect. (Image: marcelokrelling / fotolia.com)

About twenty years ago, it had been established in animal experiments that acrylamide changed the human genome and carcinogenic, said the researchers. So it is no wonder that since then doctors and nutritionists advise not to consume products containing acrylamide. To date, the carcinogenic effect has been reliably detected only in animals. The European Food Safety Authority "EFSA" published an opinion this year on acrylamide in food. This came to the conclusion that a carcinogenic effect on humans could not be clearly demonstrated.

Acrylamide is produced by the "Maillard reaction"
Nonetheless, scientists continued to search for alternatives through which people consume less acrylamide. The harmful substance is often found in foods that contain starch and that are fried during processing. For example, chips, chips, coffee, toast and biscuits contain small amounts of acrylamide. When in grains or potatoes the amino acid aspartic acid reacts with contained sugar, acrylamide is produced. This process is called a Maillard reaction.

Study with 150 different varieties should bring clarity
In their research, the scientists have now examined more than 150 different varieties of potatoes. Researcher Yi Wang and his colleagues from the University of Idaho planted the potato plants on special trial fields. Later they started to harvest the plants. All tubers were then stored for a period of eight months. During this time, the scientists repeatedly examined whether the content of sugar and aspartic acid in the potatoes changed. After the eight months, the stored potato tubers were processed into fries. The researchers then analyzed the acrylamide concentration.

38 out of 150 potato varieties contain less acrylamide
The researchers found that 38 of the 150 varieties contained less acrylamide. Thus, it would be possible that chips from such potatoes less possibly contain carcinogenic substances and thus are healthier. Although you can not really talk about the abundance of fat and salt that such products contain. For some of the fries from the trial, the content of acrylamide was less than half of normal commercial fries that are widely used in America. These are usually made from Russet Burbank and Ranger Russet potatoes.

Two particularly healthy potato varieties already available
In general, the study found that potatoes containing less sugar also had less acrylamide. For the production of chips or chips, however, such varieties are only partially usable. Food producers would make other demands on potatoes used. For the manufacturers, it is important that the potatoes used are as large as possible and contain much starch, said the scientists from Idaho. All criteria meet only two of the 38 tested "healthier" varieties. Both varieties are already on the market under the name "Payette Russet" and "Easton" offered. Thus, it would not be possible in future to use only low-sugar potatoes for the production, the researchers added to the study. If scientists were able to identify the genes that increase the risk of acrylamide in conventional potatoes, these genes could easily be turned off with commercial chips and fries, the researchers said. (As)