Asparaginase enzyme reduces acrylamide levels in fried and wood oven baked pizza base

The possibility to reduce the acrylamide (AA) formation during cooking by treating pizza dough with L-Asparaginase enzyme was explored. Wheat flour was added with commercial enzyme Preventase® in three formulations: W, M and XR-BG during mixing to produce pizza doughs. AA content was evaluated in the obtained pizza bases through UHPLC-UV analysis. Enzymes concentration (0.15÷12 U/100 g of flour) and water content (58÷64 g/100 g of flour) during mixing were considered for pizza doughs intended for frying. In the fried pizza base, the untreated sample (without Preventase®) showed an AA level of 3150±554 µg/kgdw. Preventase® treatment was able to reduce AA up to non-detectable levels (M and W) or 89% (XR-BG). The enzymatic treatment up to 3–6 U/100 g did not affect the dough handling. Preventase® W (1.5÷6.0 U/100 g of flour), which showed the best performance in fried pizza samples, with a lower amount of enzyme and optimal dough consistency, was applied in the preparation of the wood oven baked pizza base. In these experiments, the AA level of the untreated pizza base sample was 2210±205 µg/kgdw, and the enzymatic treatment resulted in a maximum AA reduction of approximately 50%, without apparently altering the technological characteristics of the dough. Results showed that the use of L-Asparaginase could possibly play a key role in mitigating acrylamide formation in the cooking process of fried and wood oven baked pizza base.