Naseer Ahmad

Synthesis, extraction, and identification of light polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in microwave oven fried Aseel chicken tissues

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of microwave oven frying on production of four, light polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) anthracene, fluorene, phenathrene, and pyrene in four tissues heart, liver, neck, and wings of Aseel chickens. The microwave oven-fried samples of tissues along with respective control after appropriate preparation were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography. These PAH were identified by comparing retention time of the unknown with known ones and concentration was calculated. Data showed that among the four chicken tissues, the neck contained the maximum level (0.079 mg/kg) of anthracene while wings contained the minimum (0.006 mg/kg). Similarly, in case of flourene, the fried heart showed greater percentage increase (225.04%) while wings showed 16.18% fluorene compared with other two organs, while phenanthrene and pyrene were maximal in wings at 0.249 mg/kg and 0.094 mg/kg, respectively. Results demonstrate that high-temperature treatment such as microwave oven frying of chicken meat might be responsible to generate these toxicants. Further study is to determine the production of other PAH under the different barbecuing conditions using various meat varieties.