Formation Of Acrylamide In Starchy Foods Is Reduced By Grape Seed, Clove Bud Extracts

Researchers in Hong Kong and Singapore have found that grape seed and clove bud extracts  seem to cut the formation of the carcinogen acrylamide in food products made from potatoes by 60 percent. Grape seed compounds known as proanthocyanidins reduced acrylamide production by 62.2 percent in potato-based foods. However, in toher carbohydrate-based foods, such as cookies, extracts of clove buds reduced acrylamide development by 51 percent. Acrylamide is produced when sugar and the amino acid asparagine are subjected to heat. The process, known as the Maillard reaction, results in the brown color of baked, friend or toasted foods. The compound, however, was found to cause cancer in laboratory rats.