This research was aimed to investigate why chlorogenic acid, presents at high concentrations in some food raw material, influences acrylamide formation. In the asparagine/glucose Maillard reaction system (pH = 6.8), addition of chlorogenic acid significantly increased acrylamide formation and inhibited its elimination. In contrast, the quinone derivative of chlorogenic acid decreased acrylamide formation. Three mechanisms may be involved for increasing acrylamide formation by chlorogenic acid. Firstly, it increased the formation of HMF, which acts as a more efficient precursor than glucose to form acrylamide. Secondly, it decreased activation energy for conversion of 3-aminopropionamide (3-APA) to acrylamide (from 173.2 to 136.6 kJ/mop, and enhances deamination from 3-APA. And thirdly, it prevented attack of the produced acrylamide from free radicals by keeping high redox potential during the Maillard reaction. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.