Formation of heterocyclic amines in Chinese marinated meat: effects of animal species and ingredients (rock candy, soy sauce and rice wine)

BACKGROUND Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are one type of neo‐formed contaminants in protein‐rich foods during heat processing. Recently, accumulative studies have focused on the formation of HAs in Western foods. However, there is little knowledge about the occurrence of HAAs in traditional Chinese foods. The objective of this study was to determinate the contents of main HAs in traditional marinated meat products by UPLC‐MS/MS, and to investigate the effects of animal species and the ingredients (soy sauce, rock candy, and rice wine) on the formation of HAAs in marinated meats. RESULTS Five HAs – 2‐amino‐3‐methylimidazo[4,5‐f]‐quinolone (IQ), 2‐amino‐3,8‐dimethylimidazo[4,5‐f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2‐amino‐3,4‐dimethylimidazo[4,5‐f]quinoxaline (MeIQ), 9H‐pyrido[3,4‐b]indole (Norharman) and l‐methyl‐9H‐pyrido[3,4‐b]indole (Harman) – were detected in 12 marinated meats, but 2‐amino‐1‐methyl‐6‐phenylimidazo[4,5‐b]pyridine (PhIP) was only found in three chicken marinates. The animal species and ingredients (soy sauce, rock candy and rice wine) have significant influence on the formation of HAAs in meat marinates. Beef had the highest content of total HAAs compared with pork, mutton and chicken. Meanwhile, soy sauce contributed to the formation of HAAs more greatly than rock candy, soy sauce, and rice wine. CONCLUSION Choice of raw materials and optimisation of ingredients recipe should be become a critical point to control the HAAs formation in marinated meats. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry