Impact of cooking methods on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in chicken meat and optimizing cooking temperature to mitigate

Cooking methods are practiced to be enhancing the quality of meat and meat products. However, the safety of heat-processed meat is an important global issue as cooking may lead to the formation of toxic substances like heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The study aimed to assess the impact of various cooking methods and temperatures on the levels of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in broiler chicken meat. Broiler chicken breast meat was exposed to different cooking methods and internal core temperatures, including simmering, boiling, microwave cooking, grilling, frying, pressure cooking, and sous vide cooking. The cooked chicken meat samples were assessed for the presence of PAHs. PAHs were estimated by using LC-MS/MS. Among the PAH compounds, fluoranthene, benzo (a) anthracene, chrysene, benzo (a) pyrene, benzo (b) fluoranthene, benzo (k) fluoranthene, indeno (123cd) pyrene, benz (ghi) perylene and dibenz(a, h) anthracene were assessed. Out of 9 PAH compounds, only three, fluoranthene, benz (a) anthracene and chrysene, were detected in particular cooking method and cooking treatments (internal core temperatures). The rest of the cooking method and treatments showed below the level of quantification or not detected. The fluoranthene level in boiled meat (T4) was 11.14±0.005. The Benz (a) anthracene levels in fried meat samples T3 and T4 were 15.318±0.01 and 29.4342±0.5, respectively. The study found that grilling and deep frying led to an increase in the concentration of PAHs in chicken breast meat. The formation of PAH compounds occurred when the meat reached an internal core temperature of 89±1 °C during grilling and frying. As a result, it is recommended that chicken breast meat not be heated above an internal core temperature of 89±1 °C when using these cooking methods.