The objective of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMCNa) on the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) in fried beef patties under low salt conditions. The 0.5-1.5 % of CMC-Na was introduced to minced beef at 1 % NaCl level, and the formation of HAAs was found to be significantly inhibited after fried (P < 0.05). The inhibition observed in the treatment containing 1 % NaCl +1.5 % CMC-Na was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). Specifically, compared to the control treatment, the contents of Harman, Norharman and PhIP were effectively reduced by 58.9 %, 66.1 %, and 67 %, respectively, in this treatment. CMC-Na inhibited the generation of HAAs through a water retention mechanism under low-salt conditions and formed a tight three-dimensional gel network structure of the minced meat, thus preventing the migration of fixed water to free water. This helped to mitigate the temperature rise on the surface of the beef patty while reducing the rate of pyrolysis of precursors of HAAs. CMC-Na can be utilized as a food additive during the preparation of fried beef patties under low-salt conditions to significantly diminish HAA formation and enhance food safety.
