The formation and reduction of furan using a soy sauce model system were investigated in the present study.
The concentration of furan fermented up to 30 days increased by 211% after sterilization compared to without sterilization. Regarding fermentation temperature, furan level after 30 days’ fermentation was the highest at 30 C (86.21 ng/mL). The furan levels in the soy sauce fermentation at 20 C and 40 C were reduced by 45% and 88%, respectively compared to 30 C fermentation. Five metal ions (iron sulfate, zinc ,sulfate, manganese sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and calcium sulfate), sodium sulfite, ascorbic acid, dibutyl hydroxyl toluene (BHT), and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) were added in a soy sauce model system.
The addition of metal ions such as magnesium sulfate and calcium sulfate reduced the furan concentration significantly by 36–90% and 27–91%, respectively in comparison to furan level in the control sample (p < 0.05). Iron sulfate and ascorbic acid increased the furan level at 30 days’ fermentation in the soy sauce model system by 278% and 87%, respectively. In the case of the BHT and BHA, furan formation generally was reduced in the soy sauce model system by 84%, 56%, respectively.