Effect of radiofrequency heating on acrylamide formation in bakery products

This work was addressed to study the influence of radiofrequency (RF) heating on 21 acrylamide (AA) formation in bakery products. To this purpose, leavened cakes and short dough 22 biscuits were baked to a final moisture of 3.5% and 3.0% respectively, by means of conventional 23 convection heating or different combinations of conventional and RF heating. Results showed that, 24 with respect to the baking process entirely carried out in an air-circulating oven, the RF-assisted 25 baking process, i.e. the application of RF heating in the last stages of the baking process, resulted to 26 be a promising strategy to keep low the AA levels in the bakery products. In particular, the best 27 results were obtained for products which were moved from the hot-air baking to the RF heating 28 when their residual moisture was still fairly high (around 10%). Results also suggested that, when 29 very low values of residual moisture are required, this technological intervention is more suitable to 30 thin bakery products, such as biscuits, than to thick products, such as leavened cakes, because of 31 excessive browning in the internal portion as a consequence of the RF heating.