2025 JAFC Research Article of the Year Award

The paper entitled "Reactivity of the 2-Methylfuran Phase I Metabolite 3-Acetylacrolein", published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, was awarded the Research Article of the Year Award. The authors Verena Schäfer, Simone Stegmüller and Hanna Lang worked on the topic under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Elke Richling. This prize has been awarded since 2013 for work of outstanding scientific quality and a significant contribution to the further development of agricultural and food chemistry.

For the award ceremony, Hanna Lang traveled to Washington, D.C., to present the research topic at the ACS Fall 2025 conference and receive the prize of $1,000 (information on the award: https://axial.acs.org/agriculture-and-food-chemistry/journal-of-agricultural-and-food-chemistry-research-article-of-the-year-award-2025 ). This opportunity provided valuable insights and exchange with peers from the international research community.

The paper is dedicated to the elucidation of the metabolism of the heat-induced food contaminant 2-methylfuran (2-MF), which occurs in high amounts in coffee, for example. Metabolic activation by CYP 2E1 can lead to the formation of the metabolite 3-acetylacrolein (AcA) from 2-MF. The focus of the publication is on the formation of DNA adducts with AcA. The results of the work make an important contribution to a better understanding of the mode of action (MoA) of 2-MF and play an important role in the risk assessment of heat-induced contaminants.

Many thanks to the ACS Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry for this prestigious award - and to all co-authors.