Acrylamide is an undesirable carcinogenic component of thermally processed foods being formed from reducing saccharides and asparagine. In this work, the effect of ammonium and sodium raising agents themselves or in their combination with L-asparaginase enzyme catalyzing the conversion of asparagine into aspartic acid resulting in the reduction of acrylamide in gingerbreads was studied. Also, the influence of selected inorganic salts on the content of acrylamide in a model matrix simulating a composition of cereal products was observed. Simultaneously, the impact of these salts on activity of L-asparaginase was examined to find optimal conditions for its application in cereal technology. Based on experiments it was found, that addition of L-asparaginase reduces acrylamide content by 40 % while inorganic salts addition decreases acrylamide content in the range of 30 - 99 % when the most effective compounds were NH4Cl and CaCl2.

Acrylamide (AA) is a probable human carcinogen and undesirable contaminant which is produced by the reaction of reducing sugars with asparagine in plant foods during their thermal treatment above 120 °C. AA is most often determined by GC-MS and LC-MS/MS in isolates from the matrix in a wide range of foods. According to our observations, AA intake from food is higher among young people (from 1.8 to 3.8 µg/kg bw/day), which is consistent with the estimations of JECFA FAO/WHO from the year 2006. Considering the health risk, it is recommended to reduce AA formation in food during its processing, in particular exploiting the available experience. The aim of this thesis was to extend the knowledge of the possibility of AA elimination in selected types of thermally processed foods. The study was focused on cereal foods that contribute significantly to AA exposure, especially bread and sweet biscuits. The whole AA content in the bread is in the crust, which represents 5-15% of the bread. Crust of home-made bread contains approximately 30-75 µg/kg, however the marketed bread contains 2 to 10 times more of AA. This is due to the composition of bread mix, preparation conditions and baking. For maintaining the quality of home-made bread during the dry mixture shelf-life, optimization of bread mixtures was designed by increasing of yeast content, which proved positive effect on the reduction of AA content at sufficiently high activity of the yeast. Monitoring of AA content in assortment of sweet bakery products showed higher levels of AA in diabetic biscuits containing fructose instead of sucrose. Three of them even exceeded the reference value (500 µg/kg) more than 1.5 times for commodity "cookies". Elimination of AA by applications of the enzyme asparaginase has been designed for minimal interference in technology of their production. The concentration of the enzyme and the appropriate method of its use in industrial environment have been tested previously in model systems. In optimized conditions of the enzyme application, AA content in diabetic biscuits was reduced by more than 40% without affecting the organoleptic properties of the final product. Effect of the antioxidants on AA formation was also part of the study. AA content in gingerbread was reduced efficiently by the use of fennel, anise, cloves, vanilla and white pepper (by about 9-21%). Conversely, coriander and cinnamon significantly increased its content (by 18-54%). Since correlations between the DPPH• radical quenching activity of the spice extracts and AA content was not observed, the final content of AA was probably influenced by the chemical composition of spices and reactivity of the individual components in the matrix. Investigated methods appear to be suitable ways of elimination AA in some foods; however their specific use must be optimized with regard to the composition of the food, processing and the technology used. Estimated impact of application of the above-mentioned methods to the overall elimination of AA exposure showed that its intake in high school students from the Czech and Slovak Republic can be reduced on average by 10%. This decrease is a success to reduce the possible risk of cancer disease by eating foods with a high AA content. It is also important piece of information for food producers for further development of relevant methods for AA elimination which would help to reduce the AA intake from foods even more.

<p>Degradable polymers have gained an increased attention in the field of biomedical applications over the past decades, for example in tissue engineering. One way of improving the biocompatibility of these polymers is by chemical surface modification, however the risk of degradation during the modification procedure is a limiting factor. In some biomedical applications, for example in nerve guides, a patterned surface is desired to improve the cell attachment and proliferation.</p><p>In this thesis a new non-destructive, single-step, and solvent free method for surface modification of degradable polymers is described. Poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) substrates have been functionalized with one of the following vinyl monomers; N-vinylpyrrolidone (VP), acrylamide (AAm), or maleic anhydride (MAH) grafts. The substrates were subjected to a vapor phase atmosphere constituted of a mixture of a vinyl monomer and a photoinitiator (benzophenone) in a closed chamber at very low pressure and under UV irradiation. Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), and poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) have been surface modified with VP using the same procedure to show the versatility of the method. The wettability of all of the four substrates increased after grafting. The surface compositions were confirmed by ATR-FTIR and XPS. The VP grafted PLLA, PTMC and PLGA substrates have been shown to be good substrates for the normal human cells i.e. keratinocytes and fibroblasts, to adhere and proliferate on. The topography of substrates with well defined nano patterns was preserved during grafting, since the grafted layer is very thin. We have also shown that the method is useful for a simultaneous chemical and topographical modification of substrates by masked vapor phase grafting. The surface topography was determined with SEM and AFM.</p> / <p>Intresset för användningen av nedbrytbara polymerer till biomedicinska applikationer som till exempel vävnads rekonstruktion har ökat avsevärt de senaste decennierna. Ett sätt att öka biokompatibiliteten hos dessa polymerer är genom kemisk ytmodifiering, men risken för nedbrytning under själva modifieringen är en begränsande faktor. I vissa biomedicinska applikationer, till exempel nervguider, är det önskvärt att ha en väldefinierad ytstruktur för att öka vidhäftningen och tillväxten av celler.</p><p>I den här avhandlingen presenteras en ny ickeförstörande, lösningsmedelsfri enstegsprocess för ytmodifiering av nedbrytbara polymerer. Substrat av poly(L-laktid) (PLLA) har ytfunktionaliserats med var och en av följande vinylmonomerer, N-vinylpyrrolidon (VP), akrylamid (AAm) eller maleinsyraanhydrid (MAH). Substraten har exponerats för en gasfasatmosfär av en blandning av en vinylmonomer och en fotoinitiator (bensofenon) i en tillsluten reaktor vid mycket lågt tryck och under UV-strålning. Metodens mångsidighet har även påvisats genom att ytmodifiera substrat av poly(ε-kaprolakton) (PCL), poly(laktid-co-glykolid) (PLGA) och poly(trimetylen karbonat) (PTMC) med VP. Vätbarheten ökade för alla fyra materialen efter ympning med en vinylmonomer. Ytsammansättningen fastställdes med ATR-FTIR och XPS. De VP ympade filmerna av PLLA, PLGA och PTMC visade sig vara bra substrat för mänskliga celler, i detta fall keratinocyter och fibroblaster, att vidhäfta och växa på. Yttopografin hos filmer med väldefinierade nanomönstrade ytor kunde bevaras efter ympning, tack vare att det ympade lagret är så tunt. Gasfas metoden har också visat sig användbar för att simultant ytmodifiera både kemiskt och topografiskt genom maskad gasfasympning. Yttopografin bestämdes med SEM och AFM.</p>

Degradable polymers have gained an increased attention in the field of biomedical applications over the past decades, for example in tissue engineering. One way of improving the biocompatibility of these polymers is by chemical surface modification, however the risk of degradation during the modification procedure is a limiting factor. In some biomedical applications, for example in nerve guides, a patterned surface is desired to improve the cell attachment and proliferation. In this thesis a new non-destructive, single-step, and solvent free method for surface modification of degradable polymers is described. Poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) substrates have been functionalized with one of the following vinyl monomers; N-vinylpyrrolidone (VP), acrylamide (AAm), or maleic anhydride (MAH) grafts. The substrates were subjected to a vapor phase atmosphere constituted of a mixture of a vinyl monomer and a photoinitiator (benzophenone) in a closed chamber at very low pressure and under UV irradiation. Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), and poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) have been surface modified with VP using the same procedure to show the versatility of the method. The wettability of all of the four substrates increased after grafting. The surface compositions were confirmed by ATR-FTIR and XPS. The VP grafted PLLA, PTMC and PLGA substrates have been shown to be good substrates for the normal human cells i.e. keratinocytes and fibroblasts, to adhere and proliferate on. The topography of substrates with well defined nano patterns was preserved during grafting, since the grafted layer is very thin. We have also shown that the method is useful for a simultaneous chemical and topographical modification of substrates by masked vapor phase grafting. The surface topography was determined with SEM and AFM. / Intresset för användningen av nedbrytbara polymerer till biomedicinska applikationer som till exempel vävnads rekonstruktion har ökat avsevärt de senaste decennierna. Ett sätt att öka biokompatibiliteten hos dessa polymerer är genom kemisk ytmodifiering, men risken för nedbrytning under själva modifieringen är en begränsande faktor. I vissa biomedicinska applikationer, till exempel nervguider, är det önskvärt att ha en väldefinierad ytstruktur för att öka vidhäftningen och tillväxten av celler. I den här avhandlingen presenteras en ny ickeförstörande, lösningsmedelsfri enstegsprocess för ytmodifiering av nedbrytbara polymerer. Substrat av poly(L-laktid) (PLLA) har ytfunktionaliserats med var och en av följande vinylmonomerer, N-vinylpyrrolidon (VP), akrylamid (AAm) eller maleinsyraanhydrid (MAH). Substraten har exponerats för en gasfasatmosfär av en blandning av en vinylmonomer och en fotoinitiator (bensofenon) i en tillsluten reaktor vid mycket lågt tryck och under UV-strålning. Metodens mångsidighet har även påvisats genom att ytmodifiera substrat av poly(ε-kaprolakton) (PCL), poly(laktid-co-glykolid) (PLGA) och poly(trimetylen karbonat) (PTMC) med VP. Vätbarheten ökade för alla fyra materialen efter ympning med en vinylmonomer. Ytsammansättningen fastställdes med ATR-FTIR och XPS. De VP ympade filmerna av PLLA, PLGA och PTMC visade sig vara bra substrat för mänskliga celler, i detta fall keratinocyter och fibroblaster, att vidhäfta och växa på. Yttopografin hos filmer med väldefinierade nanomönstrade ytor kunde bevaras efter ympning, tack vare att det ympade lagret är så tunt. Gasfas metoden har också visat sig användbar för att simultant ytmodifiera både kemiskt och topografiskt genom maskad gasfasympning. Yttopografin bestämdes med SEM och AFM. / QC 20101014