Effects of potential key substances in woodchips smoldering smoke on the formation of heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Frankfurter sausages

The Frankfurter sausages smoked with beech, oak, and alder, respectively, were used to clarify the underlying impact of the smoke chemical composition on the levels of heterocyclic amines (HAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The result indicated that different wood types significantly affected the profiles of target substances in food matrices. The beech-smoked samples had lower contents of total free HAs (5.98–6.80 ng/g dry-weight-DW), PAH4 (3.31–3.83 ng/g DW), and PAH8 (10.0–10.8 ng/g DW), whereas the alder pyrolysis usually led to higher hazardous residues (8.26–9.19 ng/g DW of total free HAs, 4.24–6.60 ng/g DW of PAH4 and 14.1–23.3 ng/g DW of PAH8). In addition, the differences in smoke chemical composition were attributed to the different proportions of 15 key identified substances. Among them, two aldehydes (5-methyl-furfural & furfural) and two phenols (phenol & 5-hydroxymaltol) may have synergistic or competitive inhibitory effects on the formation of HAs and PAHs in smoked meat products.