REDUCTION OF OIL CONTENT FROM FRIED POTATO CRISPS: KINETICS OF MOISTURE LOSS, OIL UPTAKE AND COLOR CHANGES DURING FRYING

Pre-drying and subsequent dipping in both a salt and sugar solution is a potentially effective process for reducing the oil content of potato crisps. The effect of various pretreatments on oil uptake; moisture loss; color parameters (L, a b) and textural changes of fried potatoes was investigated. The highest values (≈ 27% reduction) in oil uptake observed for samples pretreated with sugar solution followed by those samples pretreated by dipping in salt solution (≈ 22% reduction). The reaction rate constant (K) of oil uptake for control sample was 0.009 s^-1 while it was for the pretreated potato crisps in the range of 0.007 to 0.017 s^-1. The potato crisps pretreated by both salt and sugar solution had greater values of total color change (∆E) compared with the control samples. The reaction rate constant of color change for sugar treated potato crisps recorded higher values (0.009 to 0.011 s^-1) compared with that of salt treated (0.005-0.006 s^-1) and control samples (0.002 s^-1 ). There were no differences in textural values between both salt and sugar treated potato crisps during frying process at 180 °C.