Formation and reduction of furan in pumpkin puree by precursors, antioxidants, sterilization and reheating

The formation and mitigation of furan in pumpkin puree (PP) were studied during the complete process of producing PP. The content of furan was determined using headspace solid-phase microextraction combined by GC–MS analysis. Various PP samples added with precursors (glucose, fructose, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, β-carotene, ascorbic acid, glutamic acid, alanine, and serine) showed increased furan formation (30.81 ∼ 94.45 µg/kg) compared with the control (30.81 µg/kg), with β-carotene resulting in the formation of the largest amount of furan. The effects of antioxidants, such as caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, quercetin, and butylated hydroxytoluene, on the reduction of furan in PP containing β-carotene were also investigated. All antioxidants showed significant reduction of furan. During sterilizing, the content of furan was considerably affected by temperature but not heating time. Reheating PP samples using a microwave oven, water bath, or open pot, revealed that open-pot reheating was the most effective for reducing furan (10.28 ∼ 11.72 µg/kg).