Effect of post-harvest anti-sprouting treatment with spearmint essential oil on acrylamide formation in potato crisps

The control of sprouts is essential to ensure quality of stored potatoes destined for the processing market. This paper investigates the effects of post-harvest treatment of tubers with spearmint essential oil (MEO) as sprouts suppressant, on both precursors of and acrylamide formation in potato crisps. Two trials were designed using two varieties of potato cultivars, to investigate the effect of a single MEO application over time and of one and two MEO applications compared to controls. A lower amount of reducing sugars was found in treated potatoes from both varieties after one day from treatment (Lady Claire: −26.8%; Taurus: −59.5%), which for Taurus tubers corresponded to lower acrylamide content in the crisps (−72.8%). Lower acrylamide levels were quantified in Lady Claire treated twice with MEO (−70.2%) and in controls (−59.6%) compared with potatoes treated once. Both trials demonstrate that treatment with MEO has no overall negative impact on acrylamide formation. Furthermore, no substantial change can be observed in the amino acidic and sugar profile of the tubers, which cannot be attributed to variability among tubers. These findings support the effective and safe use of MEO to control sprouting of potatoes destined to the processing market.