REDUCTION OF CYANIDE CONTENT IN PHYLOSTACHIS AUREA BAMBOO SHOOTS: OPTIMIZING THE PROCESSING CONDITIONS OF TEMPERATURE, HEATING TIME, AND NaCl CONCENTRATION

Abstract

A Box-Behnken design was applied to evaluate the impact of temperature, heat treatment time, and NaCl concentration on the hydrocyanic acid (HCN) content in bamboo shoots of the Phyllostachys aurea species. A total of fifteen treatments with different combinations of the factors were carried out. For the quantification of HCN, a modification of the qualitative spectrophotometric technique of Guignard sodium picrate was followed. A calibration curve was constructed, which showed a quadratic form and high correlation (R2=0.965), and the resulting equation allowed quantifying the content of each of the treatments. The final concentration of HCN in samples was found to be between 0.007 and 0.015 mg/mL. Among the factors tested, only the temperature and time of heat treatment showed a significant impact on the reduction of HCN. Finally, contour plots were build up in order to identify the optimal treatment conditions for the most significant HCN reduction.