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Textbook Acrylamide in Food Analysis Content and Potential Health Effects 1St Edition Gokmen Ebook All Chapter PDF
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Acrylamide in Food
ANALYSIS, CONTENT
AND POTENTIAL
HEALTH EFFECTS
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Acrylamide in Food
ANALYSIS, CONTENT
AND POTENTIAL
HEALTH EFFECTS
VURAL GÖKMEN
Department of Food Engineering,
Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
List of Contributors xv
Prefacexix
Introductionxxi
“Common European Trends” and “Marginal European Trends” of Changes of Acrylamide Levels
in Food between 2007 and 2010, Calculated on the Basis of the Database of the EFSA 43
A Downward Trend in Acrylamide Level in Potato Crisps in Europe from 2002 to 2011,
Based on the European Snacks Association Dataset 48
Tendencies of Changes in Acrylamide Levels in Certain Categories of Food in Poland,
between 2004 and 2010, on the Basis of National Food and Nutrition Institute Dataset 50
Conclusions53
Key Facts 54
Mini Dictionary 56
Summary Points 57
Abbreviations57
References58
10. Acrylamide in Soybean Products, Roasted Nuts, and Dried Fruits 197
Slađana Žilić
Introduction197
Acrylamide in Soybean Products 197
Acrylamide in Roasted Nuts 202
Acrylamide in Dried Fruits 207
Synopsis of Analytical Techniques 208
Key Facts 209
Mini Dictionary 209
Summary Points 210
References211
Conclusion400
Synopsis of Analytical Techniques 400
Key Facts 401
Mini Dictionary 402
Summary Points 402
References402
Extraction447
Extract Cleanup 451
GC–MS Detection 452
Key Facts 456
Mini Dictionary 456
Summary Points 457
References457
Index507
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Monica Anese
Department of Food Science, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
Bhawna Batra
Department of Biochemistry, M.D. University, Rohtak, Haryana, India
Edoardo Capuano
Wageningen University and Research Centre, Food Quality and Design Group, The
Netherlands
Reinhold Carle
Hohenheim University, Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, Chair Plant Foodstuff
Technology and Analysis, Stuttgart, Germany; Biological Science Department, King Abdulaziz
University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Francisco J. Casado
Hohenheim University, Life Science Center, Stuttgart, Germany
Ayşegül ÇEBİ
Faculty of Health Sciences, Giresun University, Piraziz/Giresun, Turkey
Fang Chen
College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, National Engineering Research
Centre for Fruits and Vegetables Processing, Key Laboratory of Fruits and Vegetables
Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Zuzana Ciesarová
NPPC National Agricultural and Food Centre, Food Research Institute, Bratislava, Slovak
Republic
Colin Crews
Fera Science Ltd., Sand Hutton, North Yorkshire, UK
Rosa M. Delgado
Instituto de la Grasa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Seville, Spain
Piotr Dobrowolski
Department of Comparative Anatomy and Anthropology, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University,
Lublin, Poland
Vincenzo Fogliano
Food Quality and Design group, Wageningen University & Research Centre, Wageningen,
The Netherlands
Heinz Freisling
Dietary Exposure Assessment Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer
(IARC-WHO), Lyon, France
Vural Gökmen
Department of Food Engineering, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey
xv
xvi List of Contributors
Eduardo J. Guerra-Hernández
Departamento de Nutrición y Bromatología, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
Aytül Hamzalıoğlu
Department of Food Engineering, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey
Francisco J. Hidalgo
Instituto de la Grasa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Seville, Spain
Monika Hułas-Stasiak
Department of Comparative Anatomy and Anthropology, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University,
Lublin, Poland
Sastry S. Jayanty
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, San Luis Valley Research, Colorado
State University, CO, USA
Cheng Jin
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Biosystems Engineering and Food
Science, Zhejiang University Center, Hangzhou, PR China
Diganta Kalita
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, San Luis Valley Research, Colorado
State University Center, CO, USA
Tolgahan Kocadağlı
Department of Food Engineering, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
Kristína Kukurová
NPPC VUP National Agricultural and Food Centre, Food Research Institute Bratislava,
Priemyselná, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Daotong Li
College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, National Engineering Research
Centre for Fruits and Vegetables Processing, Key Laboratory of Fruits and Vegetables
Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Jie Liu
College of Grain, Oil and Food, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, China
Pieternel Luning
Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The
Netherlands
Marta Mesias
Institute of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
Burçe Ataç Mogol
Department of Food Engineering, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey
Hanna Mojska
Department of Food and Food Supplements, National Food and Nutrition Institute, Warsaw,
Poland
Alfredo Montaño
Food Biotechnology Department, Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), Seville, Spain
List of Contributors xvii
Francisco J. Morales
Institute of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
Chandra S. Pundir
Department of Biochemistry, M.D. University, Rohtak, Haryana, India
Maimunah Sanny
Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Putra University, Serdang, Malaysia
Nadia Slimani
Dietary Exposure Assessment Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer
(IARC-WHO), Lyon, France
Richard H. Stadler
Nestec Ltd, Corporate Quality Management, Vevey, Switzerland
Alfred Studer
Nestlé Research Centre, Vers-chez-les-Blanc, Switzerland
Yalçın Tepe
Biology Department, Faculty of Arts and Science, Giresun University, Giresun, Turkey
Ewa Tomaszewska
Department of Animal Biochemistry and Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
University of Life Sciences, Lublin, Poland
Antonio D. Troise
Department of Agriculture and Food Science, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy,
Food Quality and Design group, Wageningen University & Research Centre, Wageningen,
The Netherlands
Pengpu Wang
College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, National Engineering Research
Centre for Fruits and Vegetables Processing, Key Laboratory of Fruits and Vegetables
Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Rosario Zamora
Instituto de la Grasa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Seville, Spain
Ying Zhang
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Biosystems Engineering and Food
Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Agro-Food
Processing, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China
Slađana Žilić
Department of Food Technology and Biochemistry, Maize Research Institute, Belgrade, Serbia
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PREFACE
Human ancestors discovered the fire and the controlled use of it 1 million years ago.The
fire gave the human the ability to get warmth and cook their foods. “How lucky that
Earth has fire” says Richard Wrangham in his book named “Catching Fire: How
Cooking Made Us Human.” Cooking of foods, domestically or industrially, is an ancient
practice that improves the organoleptic properties of the foods, nutrient bioavailability
and microbiological safety. Today, cooking practices like baking, frying, and roasting are
indispensable tools in human’s daily life. Heat induces chemical change, and a plethora
of new molecules are generated in foods, some of which have been claimed to impart
positive health effects. On the other hand, certain compounds may also be formed that
exhibit carcinogenic and in some cases mutagenic properties.
Over the past decades, researchers have gained increasing insight in understanding
the presence, formation, and potential risk to public health posed by the compounds
formed during domestic cooking and heat processing of different foods. The recent dis-
covery of acrylamide in cooked carbohydrate-rich foods by Swedish researchers has
raised much concern, and sparked intensive scientific studies into the occurrence,
analysis, exposure, mechanisms of formation, possible measures of control, and toxicol-
ogy of the compound.
Basically, acrylamide is formed when food is heated to high temperatures and is thus
a naturally occurring compound. The foods rich in carbohydrate and asparagine have
the highest potential to form acrylamide. It is found in all foods subjected to heating
such as crisps, French fries, bread, bakery wares, breakfast cereals, coffee, chocolate, infant
formula, and battered products. It is also found in nonheated foods such as dried prunes
and black olives. This fact has shaken consumer confidence in the safety of these foods
and highlighted that small–medium enterprises of the agrofood industry are poorly pre-
pared to face such a problem. Reducing acrylamide levels in heated foods is still one of
the major targets for agrofood industry. FoodDrinkEurope, in close cooperation with
the national authorities and the European Commission, has developed the Acrylamide
Toolbox that helps food manufacturers to identify the best ways to reduce acrylamide in
their products taking into account the latest scientific and technological developments.
In addition, the official journal of the European Union published new recommendations
in 2013 regarding acrylamide levels in food, setting up new indicative values in the range
of 100–1000 μg/kg for a wider range of food products.
Presence of acrylamide in heated foods has been considered an important food-
related crisis by the authorities. The World Health Organization has declared that acryl-
amide represents a potential health risk as evidence shows that in some circumstances it
can cause cancer or tissue damage. The caveat to this is the uncertainly at which levels it
can induce pathology, the precise mechanism of its formation and the steps needed to
xix
xx Preface
reduce its concentration. Nevertheless, due to increasing awareness there has been in the
past few years an increase in the published material on the formation and presence of
acrylamide in different foods, the total amounts consumed in the diet, and its potential
risk. This material has been somewhat sporadic, fragmentary, and hitherto unfocused.
There is thus a need to have a single source of material on acrylamide that enables
those in one discipline to become familiar with the concepts and applications in other
disciplines of food science. This is addressed in Acrylamide in Food: Analysis,
Content and Potential Health Effects. There are reasons why this book is timely; the
latest research findings on the mechanism of formation, occurrence in foods, dietary
intake, risk assessment, effects on tissues and cancer, potential interactions and ways of
reductions, and methods of analysis are all covered. Accordingly, this book should find
importance as a textbook for students, both in graduate schools and at advanced under-
graduate levels. It should also provide current researchers with jumping-off points to
further their own work.
Vural Gökmen
INTRODUCTION: POTENTIAL SAFETY RISKS
ASSOCIATED WITH THERMAL PROCESSING OF FOODS
Vural Gökmen
Department of Food Engineering, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
xxi
xxii Introduction
Figure 1 Commonly consumed foods that are exposed to extreme temperatures during processing.
Figure 2 Examples of some naturally occurring compounds in foods leading to certain potentially
harmful substances during thermal processing.
Introduction xxiii
carbohydrates and lipids may play an important role.The reaction pathways are interrelated
and strongly dependent on the size and composition of foods and processing conditions [1].
Among the reactions occurring in food during heating, the reaction between reduc-
ing carbohydrates and free amino groups of proteins or amino acids is the major source
of neo-formed compounds. This reaction, so-called the Maillard reaction, causes the
development of brown color in foods. The Maillard reaction gives unique color and
flavor to food products. However, there are also certain undesired consequences of the
Maillard reaction such as (1) the loss of nutrients like lysine, (2) generation of toxic com-
pounds like acrylamide, and (3) formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs)
that are responsible for the development of certain age-related diseases. The Maillard
reaction has three stages in which typical products are formed (Figure 3). Some of them
like N-ε-fructosyllysine (FL) and carboxymethyllysine (CML) have been used to evalu-
ate the degree of protein glycation in heated foods that indicate the loss of nutritive
value [7–9]. Some other Maillard reaction products such as acrylamide and furfurals
indicate the safety risks created in foods during thermal processing due to the potential
adverse effects of these compounds on human health [1,10–12].
REFERENCES
[1] Gökmen V. A perspective on the evaluation of safety risks in thermal processing of foods with an
example for acrylamide formation in biscuits. Qual Assur Saf Crops Foods 2014;6(3):319–25.
[2] Studer A, Blank I, Stadler RH. Thermal processing contaminants in foodstuffs and potential strategies
of control. Czech J Food Sci 2004;22:1–10.
[3] Skog KI, Johansson MAE, Jagerstad MI. Carcinogenic heterocyclic amines in model systems and
cooked foods: a review on formation, occurrence and intake. Food Chem Toxicol 1998;36:879–96.
[4] Tareke E, Rydberg P, Karlsson S, Eriksson M, Törnqvist M. Analysis of acrylamide, a carcinogen
formed in heated foodstuffs. J Agric Food Chem 2002;50:4998–5006.
[5] Crews C, Brereton P, Davies A.The effects of domestic cooking on the levels of 3-monochloropropanediol
in foods. Food Addit Contam 2001;19:271–80.
[6] Maga JA. Furans in foods. CRC Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 1979;11:355–400.
[7] Reddy VP, Beyaz A. Inhibitors of the Maillard reaction and AGE breakers as therapeutics for multiple
diseases. Drug Discov Today 2006;11:646–54.
[8] Henle T. Protein-bound advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) as bioactive amino acid derivatives
in foods. Amino Acids 2005;29:313–22.
[9] Hodge JE. Dehydrated foods–chemistry of browning reactions in model systems. J Agric Food Chem
1953;1:928–43.
[10] Gökmen V, Serpen A, Açar ÖÇ, Morales FJ. Significance of furosine as heat-induced marker in cook-
ies. J Cereal Sci 2008;48:843–7.
[11] Wellner A, Huettl C, Henle T. Formation of Maillard reaction products during heat treatment of carrots.
J Agric Food Chem 2011;59:7992–8.
[12] The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Acrylamide. In: IARC Monographs on
the Evaluation of the Carcinogenic Risk of Chemicals to Humans, vol. 60. 1994. p. 389–433. Lyon
France.
[13] European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Scientific opinion on the re-evaluation of caramel colours
(E 150 a, b, c, d) as food additives. EFSA J 9(3):103. Available at: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajo
urnal/doc/2004.pdf; [accessed 06.01.14].
[14] Capuano E, Fogliano V. Acrylamide and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF): a review on metabolism,
toxicity, occurrence in food and mitigation strategies. LWT-Food Sci Technol 2011;44:793–810.
[15] Mottram DS, Wedzicha BI, Dodson AT. Acrylamide is formed in the Maillard reaction. Nature
2002;419:448–9.
xxvi Introduction
[16] Stadler RH, Blank I, Varga N, Robert F, Hau J, Guy PA, et al. Acrylamide from Maillard reaction
products. Nature 2002;419:449–50.
[17] Yaylayan VA, Wnorowski A, Locas CP. Why asparagine needs carbohydrates to generate acrylamide.
J Agric Food Chem 2003;51:1753–7.
[18] Becalski A, Lau BP-Y, Lewis D, Seaman S. Acrylamide in foods: occurrence, sources and modeling.
J Agric Food Chem 2003;51:802–8.
[19] Rydberg P, Eriksson S, Tareke E, Karlsson P, Ehrenberg L, Törnqvist M. Investigations of factors that
influence the acrylamide content of heated foodstuffs. J Agric Food Chem 2003;51:7012–8.
[20] Matthäus B, Haase NU,Vosmann K. Factors affecting the concentration of acrylamide during deep-fat
frying of potatoes. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol 2004;106:793–801.
[21] Gökmen V, Palazoğlu TK, Şenyuva HZ. Relation between the acrylamide formation and time–
temperature history of surface and core regions of French fries. J Food Eng 2006;77:972–6.
[22] Pedreschi F, Moyano P, Kaack K, Granby K. Color changes and acrylamide formation in fried potato
slices. Food Addit Contam 2005;38:1–9.
[23] Açar ÖÇ, Gökmen V. Investigation of acrylamide formation on bakery products using a crust-like
model. Mol Nutr Food Res 2009;53:1521–5.
[24] Greenwood DA, Kraybill HR, Feaster JF, Jackson JM.Vitamin retention in processed meats. Ind Eng
Chem 1944;36:922.
[25] Açar ÖÇ, Gökmen V. A new approach to evaluate the risk arising from acrylamide formation in cook-
ies during baking: total risk calculation. J Food Eng 2010;100:642–8.
[26] Šebeková K, Somoza V. Dietary advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and their health effects. Mol
Nutr Food Res 2007;51:1079–84.
[27] Wang Z, Jiang Y, Liu N, Ren L, Zhu Y, An Y, et al. Advanced glycation end-product N-ε-
carboxymethyl-lysine accelerates progression of atherosclerotic calcification in diabetes. Atherosclerosis
2012;221:387–96.
[28] Li J, Liu D, Sun L, Lu Y, Zhang Z. Advanced glycation end products and neurodegenerative diseases:
mechanisms and perspective. J Neurol Sci 2012;317:1–5.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Since the discovery of acrylamide in certain types of food cooked at high temperatures
in April 2002 by the Swedish National Food Authority [1,2], extensive work has been
done to identify the molecular precursors and to elucidate the reaction mechanism(s)
leading to acrylamide. The very early studies dealing with the formation of acrylamide
in food identified the Maillard reaction as a key driver of acrylamide formation [3,4].
The Maillard reaction is the reaction between naturally present amino acids and reduc-
ing sugars (e.g., glucose or fructose) when foods are heated. It is responsible for the
development of the desirable flavor and color in many cooked foods subjected to baking,
frying, or roasting. Acrylamide is mainly formed from the amino acid asparagine and
reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) both of which occur naturally in plant materials
including, for example, cereal grains, vegetables (such as potatoes), cocoa, and coffee (for
in-depth reviews see Refs [5–8]).
The first research papers on the formation of acrylamide had in common that they iden-
tified asparagine as the key amino acid that furnishes the acrylamide backbone [3,4,9],
although the initial proposals of the chemical pathways described by the authors were diver-
gent, providing only little evidence of the key intermediates. Stadler et al. [3] provided
evidence of the involvement of the free amino acid asparagine through stable isotope dilu-
tion assays using 15N-labeled asparagine, showing that >98% of the label is incorporated into
acrylamide.The same paper showed that N-glycosides (N-(d-glucos-1-yl)-1-asparagine and
N-(d-fructos-2-yl)-l-asparagine) are effective precursors of acrylamide, yielding >1.3 mmol
acrylamide per mol of N-glycoside. Mass spectra of the pyrolysate of asparagine and glucose
confirmed the presence of the corresponding N-glycoside [3].
The group of Mottram [4] proposed the involvement of the Strecker reaction in the
formation of acrylamide, using 2,3-butanedione as the dicarbonyl source reacting with
asparagine. Strecker aldehydes are formed via the oxidative deamination and decarbox-
ylation of α-amino acids, driven by deoxysones. Model system studies showed that car-
bonyls furnish acrylamide under both wet (phosphate buffer) and dry conditions. The
authors also proposed acrolein/acrylic acid as potential intermediates, albeit at lower
yields due to the likely limitation of ammonia in the reaction [4].
Zyzak et al. [9] were the first to show that 3-aminopropionamide (3-APA), a bio-
genic amine formed during the Maillard reaction, may be one of the key precursors of
acrylamide. The researchers also showed through experiments with 2-deoxy-glucose
that carbonyls, but not dicarbonyls, are essential in the Maillard route to acrylamide: that
is, Amadori rearrangement products are not needed. Further studies by other researchers
[10] corroborated this early work on 3-APA, first in model systems and then in actual
food samples such as cheese and cocoa [11,12].
Tempio di Venere.
Non v’ha chi non sappia Venere, nata dal seme insanguinato di Celo
fecondato dalle spume dell’Ionio mare, essere stata una delle più
celebri divinità de’ secoli pagani. Se si volesse scrivere una storia
dei suoi fatti e ragione de’ diversi nomi, de’ suoi attributi svariati, del
culto, delle feste a lei consacrate, di tutto che le si riferisce,
sarebbevi materia a più d’un volume: più generalmente essa veniva
riguardata come la Dea della bellezza, la madre dell’Amore e del
Riso, la regina della Gioja, la compagna delle Grazie e de’ Piaceri.
Presiedeva essa alla generazione ed era ad un tempo la protettrice
delle cortigiane.
Delle diverse Veneri di cui si trova memoria, non terrò qui conto che
delle due riconosciute da Platone [168], la Venere Urania o Celeste,
caratterizzata da un diadema sul capo, e la Venere Pandemos,
popolare o publica, ed anche terrestre, appellata Physica dai
Pompejani. Alla prima faceva cenno Ugo Foscolo che può dirsi il
cantore di essa ne’ tempi moderni, come negli antichi della seconda
si direbbe Catullo, ne’ mirabili suoi versi de’ Sepolcri, dove
apostrofando Firenze, dopo averla salutata ispiratrice all’Allighieri del
divin carme, la saluta patria e ispiratrice altresì del Petrarca:
Queste due Veneri erano poi così fra loro distinte, da avere riti e
sacerdoti affatto diversi.
Massime al tempo della decadenza, in cui corrottissimi eransi fatti i
costumi, era in fiore per tutto l’orbe romano il culto a questa ultima
Dea, e feste in di lei onore celebravansi al primo d’aprile, che perciò
dicevasi mese di Venere. Vegliavano le donzelle pel corso di tre notti
consecutive, si dividevano in parecchie bande e in ognuna di queste
si formavano parecchi cori. Quel tempo s’impiegava nel danzare ed
inneggiare in onore della Dea: di che un inno o ritmo antico ci
informa in questi versi:
Tempio di Giove.
Tempio d’Iside.
Come malato e come viaggiatore per mare, Tibullo aveva più titoli
alla protezione della Dea: quelli infatti che redimevansi da alcuna
grave malattia, o che si erano salvati da naufragio, non mancavano
di consacrare quadri votivi che si sospendevano nel tempio della
Dea, di che fa cenno ne’ surriferiti versi il poeta, e fece dire a
Giovenale:
e Meroe era tra le più grandi isole del Nilo e città interessante
dell’Africa,
Toccando l’argomento di questo culto, si è invogliati di indagarne le
origini e il vorrei fare, molto più che alcuna idea mi sarebbe
ingenerata che scostandosi dalle ipotesi più generali, le quali
seguendo una interpretazione data a un passo di Erodoto, derivar
vorrebbero la famiglia Egizia dalla Etiopia, avvalorando l’opinione
colla testa della Sfinge delle piramidi, la quale offre i caratteri
distintivi del tipo negro. Io, il carattere dell’architettura principalmente
egizia raffrontando con quello del Messico e Indiano e l’analogia fra i
riti e le istituzioni di un luogo e dell’altro, argomento piuttosto ad una
comune sorgente nell’India; se pure, rammentando quello immenso
fenomeno ricordato da Platone della graduata sparizione di quella
grande Isola che fu l’Atlantide, non si possa con più ragione
congetturare che i popoli che l’abitavano dovendo per necessità
abbandonarla, chi da una parte volgesse e chi dall’altra, gli uni
passando al Messico, gli altri a popolare le terre fecondate dall’onda
sacra del Nilo. La cronaca d’Eusebio appoggierebbe in certo qual
modo codesta ipotesi mia, affermando che a un’epoca assai remota
Etiopi venuti dall’India si sarebbero stabiliti nell’Egitto.
Ma ciò non accenno che di volo: la materia sarebbe vasta, ardua a
trattarsi e superiore alle mie forze ed al tempo che mi è concesso: mi
restringerò piuttosto a fornire sotto brevità alcune nozioni intorno alla
teogonia egiziana.
Il politeismo egizio riducevasi a stretto rigore all’unità; tutti que’ Dei
venendo considerati come altrettante emanazioni d’Amon-Ra,
l’essere increato, immutabile, onnipossente, autore, conservatore ed
anima della natura, costituente una trinità formata di lui stesso, di
Moûth la femmina e la madre, e di Khons il figliuolo nato da essi.
Questa trinità ne creava altre e la continua catena scendeva ben
anco dai cieli e si materializzava sotto forme umane. Ogni regione
dell’universo aveva la sua triade: quella che aveva la direzione della
terra componevasi d’Osiride, d’Iside e di Horo, poi d’Horo, d’Iside e
di Malouli. Il regno di quest’ultima triade aveva immediatamente
preceduto la generazione degli uomini. Ella rappresentava il principio
d’ordine nel mondo, mentre Tifone, fratello e nemico d’Osiride,
rappresentava il principio del male.
«La leggenda egizia — scrive Clavel — raccontava che dopo aver
civilizzato l’Egitto e fondata Tebe, Osiride volle estendere i suoi
beneficj alla terra intera, e che visitò tutti i popoli, che sotto i diversi
nomi le avevano inalzato altari. Ma al suo ritorno, Naphtis sposa e
sorella di Tifone, si invaghì di sua bellezza e rivestendo l’apparenza
d’Iside per ingannarlo si unì a lui e diede alla luce Anubi. Tifone così
oltraggiato, ne concepì un fiero risentimento, tese agguati ad
Osiride, l’uccise e gettò il suo corpo nel Nilo. Iside si mise alla ricerca
della spoglia del proprio sposo, e giunse a rinvenirla, meno gli organi
della generazione, ch’erano stati divorati da un pesce della specie
chiamata fagro. Osiride ritornò dagli inferni, ma nella persona di
Horo suo figlio. Poco a poco crebbe in forza e potenza, assunse il
nome di Serapide e vinse il cattivo principio, che, latente
nell’universo, non cessa di sconvolgerne l’ordine e di produrre ogni
sorta di mali.» [197]
Il citato Clavel spiega nella seguente forma il senso che si asconde
della leggenda.
«Tifone è la personificazione delle tenebre e del freddo; Horo il sole
del solstizio d’inverno; Serapide il sole del solstizio d’estate: Osiride
il sole dell’equinozio d’autunno, che perisce sotto i colpi del suo
eterno avversario. Gli organi della virilità sono il phallus, emblema
della fecondità solare. Iside è la luna, sposa e sorella del Re, da cui
ella riceve la influenza e ch’ella segue costantemente nella sua
immensa carriera [198].» Plutarco ci porge del pari identica la chiave
della astronomica allegoria, ed io d’altronde in questa mia opera, pur
d’Ercole parlando, ho chiarito l’allegoria astronomica del pari che si
cela sotto le famose sue gesta; sì che paja che la sapienza degli
antichi sacerdoti nascondesse dei veri sotto tutti i miti, sotto tutte le
leggende della pagana teogonia, nè fossero essi soltanto stranezze
ed ubbie superstiziose.
Le divinità egizie ebbero per simbolo un animale qualunque, ed anzi
questo emblema vivente teneva luogo quasi sempre nei templi della
statua del Dio stesso e riceveva così le adorazioni de’ fedeli. Erodoto
dice che gli Egizi rappresentavano Iside colle corna di bue, forse
come emblema di potenza: Plutarco afferma che Mercurio posò una
testa di bue su quella di Iside invece del diadema che Horo le aveva
levato.
Addetta al culto di questi numi eravi tutta una casta sacerdotale, che
formava la parte sapiente della nazione, consacrata a studiare le
scienze positive, la fisica, l’astronomia, la storia naturale, la
geografia, la medicina; a coltivare la teologia, la filosofia, la
divinazione, occupandosi altresì di architettura, pittura e musica, ed
a raccogliere gli annali e le cronache del proprio paese e dell’altrui.
Essa era investita dell’amministrazione della giustizia, della
riscossione delle imposte, e della disposizione degli impieghi.
Dividevasi in profeti, in comasti e zaconi: i primi eran d’ordine
superiore e vivevano assai sobrii e puri. Il desiderio di conservarsi in
uno stato della più rigorosa purezza, aveva introdotto in mezzo ad
essi il costume della circoncisione, e gli aveva impegnati a vestire
stoffe di lino candidissime, in memoria altresì ch’Iside fosse stata,
come afferma Ovidio, l’introduttrice del lino; onde così vennero
designati da Marziale in un epigramma: