Heterocyclic aromatic amines in fried poultry meat

Heterocyclic aromatic amines are mutagenic compounds that are formed during heating of meat and fish. These substances are products of the reaction of creatine with amino acids and carbohydrates. It is recommended that exposure to these probable human carcinogens should be minimised. In fried boneless lean turkey breast meat five heterocyclic aromatic amines {2-amino-1-methyl-imidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ), 2-amino-3,8-dimethyl-imidazo-[4,5-f]quinoline (MeIQ), 2-amino-3,8-dimethyl-imidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (4,8-DiMeIQx) and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP)} were found. The temperature regime which was applied for frying resulted in a surface temperature of about 140 degrees C. Cleanup was done by acid-base partition followed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) using blue cotton. HPLC analysis was carried out using electrochemical detection for IQ-and IQx-type compounds and fluorescence detection for PhIP. The low temperatures used during frying yielded comparably lower amounts of heterocyclic aromatic amines. The concentrations of the aromatic amines were as follows: IQ 1.1 mu g/kg, MeIQ 0.9 mu g/kg, MeIQx mu g/kg, 4,8-DiMeIQx 0.4 mu g/kg, and PhIP 3.8 mu g/kg.