The Inhibitory Effect of Six Traditional Spices on the Formation of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines in Fried Beef Patties

A method for the detection of 8 heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) in fried beef patties by solid phase extraction-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was established in this study, and the effects of six traditional spices added at different concentrations including Sichuan pepper (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%), chili pepper (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%), black pepper (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%), ginger (1%, 2%, 3%), garlic (1%, 3%, 5%), and onion (3%, 6%, 9%) on the formation of 8 HAAs in fried beef patties were investigated. The results showed that the linear range was from 0.5~40 ng/mL for 8 HAAs with the good determination coefficients (R²>0.999). The limits of detection were 0.047~0.102 ng/g, and the limits of quantification were 0.127~0.336 ng/g. The precision was 1.2%~10.9%. The recoveries were in the range of 54.0%~109.4% with the relative standard deviations of 1.4%~8.9%. This method could be effectively applied for the quantification of HAAs. The total amount of HAAs in the control group without adding spices were 37.5 ng/g. Compared with the control group, the addition of six spices could significantly reduce the total amount of HAAs (P<0.05). The best inhibition effect on total HAAs could be obtained by 1.5% Sichuan pepper, 1.5% chili pepper, 0.5% black pepper, 1% ginger, 5% garlic and 9% onion and the inhibition rates were 77.3%, 67.4%, 65.0%, 67.1%, 61.2%, 47.9%, respectively. The results from this study can provide a technical reference for inhibiting the formation of HAAs in the thermal processing of meat products.