In response to European concerns over high levels of the carcinogen acrylamide in processed foods, researchers are looking to reduce dietary levels of the chemical by developing a new variety of potato.
One approach is to develop potato varieties that are low in acrylamide precursors – the amino acid asparagine and reducing sugars. This is the goal of a large BBSRC-funded project. The team of researchers is led by Nigel Halford from Rothamsted Research in the UK.
They investigated the formation of the chemical in nine different potato varieties. The precursor-acrylamide relationship was found to be variety dependent.
