Heat-induced formation of mepiquat by decarboxylation of pipecolic acid and its betaine derivative. Part 2: Natural formation in cooked vegetables and selected food products.
Mepiquat (N,N-dimethylpiperidinium) is a plant growth regulator registered for use as its chloride salt in many countries on cereals and other crops. Recent model system studies have shown that natural chemicals present in crop plants, such as pipecolic acid and pipecolic acid betaine, may furnish mepiquat through different chemical pathways, when subjected to temperatures in the range of 200°C. In this study, we cooked raw vegetables that did not contain mepiquat to a palatable state using different traditional cooking methods, and detected mepiquat in 9 out of 11 oven-cooked vegetables, reaching up to 189μg/kg dry wt in oven-cooked broccoli. Commercial oven potato fries generated mepiquat during cooking, typically in the range of 20-60μg/kg. Only traces of mepiquat (<5μg/kg) were found in commercial potato crisps. This work demonstrates that mepiquat occurs at μg/kg levels in a variety of cooked vegetables, including potatoes.
College of Food Science and Engineering, Jilin University, 130062 Changchun, China; Nestlé Research Centre, Vers-chez-les-Blanc, 1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland. Electronic address: yuan_yuan@jlu.edu.cn.
Yuan
Y
Yuan
Nestlé Research Centre, Vers-chez-les-Blanc, 1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland. Electronic address: adrienne.tarres@rdls.nestle.com.
Adrienne
A
Tarres
Nestlé Research Centre, Vers-chez-les-Blanc, 1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland. Electronic address: thomas.bessaire@rdls.nestle.com.
Thomas
T
Bessaire
BASF SE, 67114 Limburgerhof, Germany(1). Electronic address: radifax@t-online.de.
Wilhelm
W
Rademacher
Nestlé Corporate Quality Management, CO-QM, Avenue Nestlé 55, 1800 Vevey, Switzerland. Electronic address: richard.stadler@nestle.com.
Richard H
RH
Stadler
Nestlé Research Centre, Vers-chez-les-Blanc, 1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland. Electronic address: thierry.delatour@rdls.nestle.com.
Thierry
T
Delatour
D001622:Betaine / Q000737:chemistry*; D003296:Cooking / Q000379:methods; D006358:Hot Temperature; D010875:Pipecolic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D010880:Piperidines / Q000737:chemistry*; D011198:Solanum tuberosum / Q000737:chemistry*; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry*
D010875:Pipecolic Acids; D010880:Piperidines; D001622:Betaine; C031345:pipecolic acid; C049449:mepiquat
French fries; Maillard reaction; Mepiquat; Pesticide; Pipecolic acid; Potato; Potato crisps; Thermal processing; Vegetables