Effects of grilling process on the formation pattern of heterocyclic amines and advanced glycation end products and physicochemical quality of premade grilled grass carp fish blocks

Grilled grass carp skin contained only 23–39% of total HAs and 36–65% of AGEs found in flesh. • HAs correlated with Trp/GO, while AGEs were linked to Lys/MGO under grilling conditions. • Temperature-dependent differentiation of HAs and AGEs formation was found in grilled grass carp. This study found a temperature-dependent pattern in heterocyclic amines (HAs) and advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) formation, as well as the physicochemical quality attributes of pre-made grilled grass carp. Raising the center temperature from 50 °C to 80 °C increased total HAs by 20% and total AGEs (CML + CEL) by 107%. At grilling temperatures of 220–280 °C, HAs formation dominated, with tryptophan, glyoxal, and creatine/creatinine as key precursors. In contrast, AGE formation prevailed at 310 °C, primarily involving lysine and methylglyoxal. Notably, grilled fish skin contained only 23–39% of total HAs and 36–65% of AGEs found in flesh. Prolonged grilling increased hardness, chewiness, gumminess, and yellowness (b*) but reduced lightness (L*) and moisture content, the latter showing strong negative correlation with HAs ( r  = −0.89) and moderate correlation with AGEs ( r  = −0.51). These findings provide science-based guidance for optimizing grilling conditions to balance safety and quality.