Change in chemical composition during maturation of Artocarpus heterophyllus and its effect on acrylamide formation in deep‐fried jackfruit chips

The changes in chemical composition of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) during different stages of maturation (stage I–stage IV) were investigated. Further, deep‐fried jackfruit chips, a very popular snack of Asian countries, was prepared and the occurrence of acrylamide in the chips was estimated and correlated with the composition. Total carotenoids increased during maturation, while ascorbic acid was found to decrease. The sugars—glucose, fructose, and sucrose—increased during maturation. Major amino acids in jackfruit were leucine, isoleucine, asparagine, and threonine followed by valine, serine, phenylalanine, lysine, and glutamine. The total phenolic and flavonoid content decreased during ripening. Chlorogenic acid was the major phenolic compound. It was observed that the acrylamide content in jackfruit chips increased with maturity. The sugars demonstrated a positive correlation with acrylamide formation, whereas phenolic compounds exhibited a negative correlation. Based on the acrylamide content, stage I is recommended for the preparation of jackfruit chips. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Acrylamide is a process induced toxicants in foods and development of mitigation strategies are very important to minimize the exposure to the population. The present study investigated the effect of chemical changes during the ripening of jackfruit on acrylamide formation in deep fried chips made from jackfruit. It was observed from the study that the maturity of jackfruit had an impact on the concentrations of precursors, influencing acrylamide formation in deep‐fried chips. Thus, the proper selection of the maturity stage of raw jackfruit is very important in mitigation of acrylamide formation in jackfruit chips. We feel that the study is very important as variety of deep‐fried snack products are popular in Africa and Asian countries and no such studies on the acrylamide content in these products reported earlier.