Evaluation of a new model system for studying the formation of heterocyclic amines

Heterocyclic amines (HAs) are an important class of food mutagens and carcinogens, which can be found in cooked meat and fish. Increasing heating temperatures and times usually increase mutagenic activity in meat and meat extracts during cooking. We developed a model system, which allows to examine the effects of precursor composition and heating conditions (time and temperature) on the formation of HAs in meat. Homogenized and freeze dried meat samples (beef, pork chops, chicken breast and turkey breast) are heated with diethylene glycol in closed vials under stirring in a thermostated heating block. After an appropriate sample preparation (extraction and clean-up) ten different HAs were measured by HPLC analyses with gradient elution and mass selective detection. The time courses of HA-formation in the different kinds of meat at varying heating temperatures were determined up to heating times of 30 min. 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) was the most abundant HA in these experiments and reached the highest concentrations in the beef meat samples, as did the other HAs (MeIQ, AalphaC) at 220 degrees C in the heating block under stirred conditions. Additionally the influence of the antioxidant TBHQ (t-butylhydroquinone) on the formation of HAs in the model system was tested. However TBHQ effected only slight reductions of HA formation in all kinds of meat.