First Evidence for Marked Reducing Sugar Accumulation in Lotus Roots During Postharvest Storage as the Key Driver of Acrylamide Formation in Air-Fried Lotus Root Chips.

Acrylamide is a potentially toxic and neurotoxic compound primarily formed in foods during high-temperature cooking and processing through Maillard reactions involving naturally occurring asparagine and carbonyl compounds. This study investigated the marked variation in acrylamide formation in air-fried lotus root chips prepared from lotus roots obtained from different market sources and examined whether postharvest storage contributes to this variability. Differences in acrylamide levels among market-sourced lotus roots were significantly associated with variation in total reducing sugar content in the raw roots. To further investigate this relationship, freshly harvested lotus roots were stored at 20°C for up to 15 days, after which changes in reducing sugars, asparagine, and acrylamide formation in the resulting air-fried chips were determined. Acrylamide levels increased substantially with storage duration, reaching up to a 49-fold increase after 15 days. This increase was accompanied by pronounced accumulation of reducing sugars, which showed a strong positive correlation with acrylamide levels in the resulting chips (r = 0.935). These findings provide strong evidence that storage-induced accumulation of reducing sugars plays a key role in acrylamide formation in air-fried lotus root chips. The marked variation among market-sourced lotus roots further suggests that freshness and postharvest storage history may contribute to differences in acrylamide formation. These findings highlight the importance of raw material freshness and postharvest storage conditions for controlling acrylamide formation in air-fried lotus root products.