Comparison Between Atmospheric and Vacuum Frying of Apple Slices

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Food
Chemistry
Food Chemistry 107 (2008) 1561–1569
www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem

Comparison between atmospheric and vacuum frying of apple slices


M. Mariscal, P. Bouchon *
Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, P.O. Box 306, 6904411 Santiago, Chile

Received 10 July 2007; received in revised form 24 July 2007; accepted 11 September 2007

Abstract

Vacuum deep-fat frying is a new technology that can be used to improve quality attributes of fried food because of the low temper-
atures employed and minimal exposure to oxygen. In this paper atmospheric and vacuum frying of apple slices were compared, in terms
of oil uptake, moisture loss and color development. In addition, some apple slices were pre-dried (up to 64% w.b.) before vacuum frying
to determine the overall effect. To carry out appropriate comparisons between both technologies equivalent thermal driving forces were
used in both processes (DT = 40, 50, 60 °C), keeping a constant difference between the oil temperature and the boiling point of water at
the working pressure. Vacuum frying was shown to be a promising technique that can be used to reduce oil content in fried apple slices
while preserving the color of the product. Particularly, drying prior to vacuum frying was shown to give the best results. For instance,
when using a driving force of DT = 60 °C, pre-dried vacuum fried slices absorbed less than 50% of the oil absorbed by atmospheric fried
ones. Interestingly, a strong relationship between water loss and oil content was observed in both technologies, allowing the extension of
observations that have been made for atmospheric frying.
Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Vacuum frying; Oil uptake; Apple; Deep-fat frying

1. Introduction Key growth categories are those that offer a wide range
of product alternatives, adhering to convenience, sensory
Deep-fat frying is one of the oldest and most common and health trends. In terms of health, interest in salty snack
unit operations used in the preparation of foods, since it products that are organic or all natural, low-calorie, low-
results in products with a unique flavor-texture combina- fat, low-carbohydrate, low-sodium or offer some health-
tion (Varela, 1988). However, numerous studies have promoting benefit, are in greater demand by consumers.
revealed that excess consumption of fat, a main component Although consumers are interested in healthier snack prod-
in deep-fat fried food, is a key dietary contributor to coro- ucts, they are not willing to sacrifice flavor. Intense and
nary heart disease and perhaps cancer of the breast, colon, full-flavor snacks remain an important trend in the salty
and prostate (Browner, Westenhouse, & Tice, 1991). snack market.
Despite recent consumer trends towards healthier food, Deep-fat frying is defined as a process where a food is
consumption of oils and fats is still high. For instance, in cooked by immersing it in an edible oil or fat heated above
the United States consumers eat four or more snacks a the boiling point of water. The process is traditionally car-
day and consume more than 6.5 billion pounds of snack ried out under atmospheric conditions and the frying
food annually. As such, salty snacks account for slightly temperature is usually near to 180 °C (Dobraszczyk, Ains-
over half of total snack sales and are consequently a large worth, Ibanoglu, & Bouchon, 2006). It is a complex unit
part of the American diet (Mintel, 2006). operation involving high temperatures, significant micro-
structural changes both to the surface and the body of
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +56 2 3547962; fax: +56 2 3545803. the chip, and simultaneous heat and mass transfer, result-
E-mail address: pbouchon@ing.puc.cl (P. Bouchon). ing in flows in opposite directions of water vapor (bubbles)

0308-8146/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.09.031
1562 M. Mariscal, P. Bouchon / Food Chemistry 107 (2008) 1561–1569

and oil at the surface of the piece (Bouchon, Hollins, Per- other foods are found (Shyu & Hwang, 2001; Shyu et al.,
son, Pyle, & Tobin, 2001). In fact, numerous studies have 2005).
shown that oil uptake during deep-fat frying is confined In relation to the effect of frying conditions, Garayo and
to the surface region of the fried product and restricted Moreira (2002) observed that oil absorption in potato
to a depth of a few cells (Farkas, Singh, & McCarthy, crisps was related to the moisture lost during the process
1992; Keller, Escher, & Solms, 1986; Saguy, Gremaud, and that color was not significantly affected by the oil tem-
Gloria, & Turesky, 1997) and that oil uptake is essentially perature (118, 132 and 144 °C) and vacuum pressure used
a surface-related phenomenon resulting from the competi- (16.661, 9.888 and 3.115 kPa). On the other hand, Shyu
tion between drainage and suction into the porous crust and Hwang (2001), when studying the effect of processing
once the fried potato is removed from the oil and begins conditions on the quality of vacuum fried apple chips using
to cool (Bouchon, Aguilera, & Pyle, 2003; Gamble, Rice, a single vacuum pressure condition (3.115 kPa), and three
& Selman, 1987; Moreira, Sun, & Chen, 1997; Ufheil & different oil temperatures (90, 100, 110 °C), concluded that
Escher, 1996). oil content increased for increasing frying times and
Based on the previous mechanisms many oil reduction temperatures.
techniques have been proposed and developed. Post-fry- In order to compare atmospheric and vacuum frying it
ing treatments such as hot air drying (Nonaka, Sayre, & would be interesting to study the effect of equivalent driv-
Weaver, 1977) and super-heated steam drying (Kochhar, ing forces in both processes on the main quality attributes
1999) are two processes which have shown to reduce sig- of the product (e.g. oil content and color development).
nificantly oil absorption after frying. Also different pre- This could be accomplished by maintaining the same ther-
frying treatments have shown to be effective in reducing mal driving force, that is, by keeping a constant difference
the absorption. Lowering the moisture content of the between the oil temperature and the boiling point of water
food prior to frying using microwave, hot-air treatment at the working pressure (atmospheric or vacuum pressure).
and baking has resulted in a significant reduction in oil In addition, vacuum deep-fat frying could be combined
content in different products (Gamble et al., 1987; Krok- with other pre-treatments such as drying, to determine if
ida, Oreopolou, Maroulis, & Marinos-Kouris, 2001; Lis- there could be any synergism. In accordance, the main
inska & Leszczynski, 1991; Moyano, Rioseco, & objective of this paper is to compare atmospheric, vacuum
Gonzalez, 2002). In addition, much attention has been and pre-drying vacuum frying of apple slices, when using
given to the use of hydrocolloids such as methylcellulose, equivalent thermal driving forces, on total oil intake, mois-
hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, long fibre cellulose and ture loss and color development, to understand the differ-
corn zein, to reduce surface permeability and inhibit oil ences between both technologies and how they determine
uptake (Bouchon & Pyle, 2004). In terms of quality main quality attributes.
improvement, besides oil uptake reduction, the blanching
step prior to frying has shown to improve color and tex- 2. Materials and methods
ture (Fan, Zhang, & Mujumdar, 2005; Lisinska & Les-
zczynski, 1991; Pedreschi & Moyano, 2005; Shyu & 2.1. Materials
Hwang, 2001).
Vacuum frying is a new technology that might be an The type of apple used throughout this work is Granny
option for the production of novel snacks, such as fruits Smith. Apples had an approximate water content of 85%
and vegetables, with lower oil content and desired quality (the exact water content was determined individually for
attributes. It is defined as the frying process carried out each sample) and were stored at 7 °C and at 85–95% rela-
under pressures well below atmospheric levels, therefore tive humidity. The oil used was Fritomaster frying oil (par-
lowering the boiling point of water, making possible to tially hydrogenated oil: 25% sunflower oil; 75% soy oil)
reduce substantially the frying temperature (Garayo & from Watt’s (Watt’s, Chile).
Moreira, 2002). In the literature, only few works are found
in relation to this topic since research in this field is initiat- 2.2. Sample preparation
ing. At present, vacuum frying has shown to have some
advantages that include: (1) reduction of the oil content Apples were peeled, washed and cut into 5 mm slices
in the fried product, (2) preservation of natural color and from which 3.8 cm discs were extracted. The apple discs
flavors and (3) reduction of adverse effects on oil quality were then immersed in citric acid (5.8%) for 5 s, blanched
(Garayo & Moreira, 2002; Shyu, Hau, & Hwang, 2005). with boiling water for 1 min and cooled by immersion in
Granda, Moreira, and Tichy (2004) have concluded that cold tap water for 5 min, and drained. Blanched apple
vacuum frying can also diminish acrylamide (an animal discs were either directly fried or vacuum fried, whereas
carcinogen compound) content in potato crisps. Overall, some blanched discs were additionally pre-dried under
benefits are mainly derived from the low temperatures controlled conditions using a Self-Cooking Center Model
employed and minimal exposure to oxygen. In terms of SCC661 (Rational, Germany), with dry air at 80 °C, to a
the raw materials under study, most researches have been final moisture content of 64% w.b., before vacuum
oriented towards potatoes and only few works based in frying.
M. Mariscal, P. Bouchon / Food Chemistry 107 (2008) 1561–1569 1563

2.3. Frying atmospheric frying, and 95, 105 and 115 °C, for vacuum
frying, providing driving forces (DT) equals to 40, 50 and
Atmospheric and vacuum frying were carried out using 60 °C.
the same equipment: an electrically heated, 10-l stainless Frying times were selected in order to work under exper-
steel (316L) vessel, which was thermostatically controlled imental conditions that ensured containing enough free
to maintain the set frying temperature ±2 °C using a tem- water in the sample during the immersion period (vigorous
perature control system (PID + Fuzzy Logic, Veto, Chile). water escape), thus permitting understanding oil-uptake
In both set of experiments, the fryer was filled with 4 l of and water-loss relationship during the pressurization step
oil, which was preheated for 2 h prior to frying (Blumen- and post-frying cooling. In fact, if the sample contains suf-
thal, 1991) and discarded after 4 h. Temperature gradients ficient moisture, the vapor can exert enough pressure
in the oil were minimized by means of a RW20 multi-speed (water–vapor pressure) to preclude oil absorption during
stirrer (IKAÒ-Labortechnik, Germany) placed in the centre the immersion period. Conversely, if the food does not con-
of the oil bath. tain enough moisture, there is not sufficient pressure build-
up to hinder the absorption, allowing oil penetration during
2.3.1. Atmospheric deep-fat frying experiments the immersion. Since, one of the aims of this work is to study
Five discs per sample were placed inside the frying bas- the relationship between these two fractions, it was decided
ket and were covered with a grid to prevent them from to restrict frying times to those were vigorous water escape
floating. Frying was carried out by immersing the basket occurs, as presented in Section 4.1.
in the oil, at the set temperature, for 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and
15 min. After each frying time, the samples were removed 3. Analytical methods
from the fryer and hold in a stainless steel grid.
3.1. Oil content
2.3.2. Vacuum frying experiments
Vacuum frying experiments were carried out in the same Total oil content of ground apple slices was determined
frying vessel, which was covered with a stainless steel gravimetrically by solvent extraction using the Soxhlet
(316L) lid, tightly screwed. The frying vessel was connected technique (AOAC, 1995), as explained in Bouchon et al.
to a Speedivac vacuum pump (Edwards Hochvakuum (2003).
GmbH, Germany) that was adequately separated from
the vessel by means of three dry-ice traps, used to prevent 3.2. Solids content
water vapor inclusion in the pump oil system.
Once the oil temperature reached the target value, five Each extracted group was placed in Petri dishes, dried in
blanched slices or eight blanched pre-dried slices were a forced air oven at 105 °C for 24 h (to constant mass) and
placed inside the frying basket, covered with a grid, the cooled in a desiccator (AOAC, 1995).
lid was fastened and the vessel was depressurized. When
the pressure in the vessel achieved 0.15 bar (which corre- 3.3. Moisture loss
sponds to a water boiling-point of approximately 55 °C),
the basket was lowered and immersed in the oil for the Moisture loss was reported on a dry basis and was cal-
required period of time. Thereafter the basket was raised, culated from the difference between the original moisture
shaken manually and the vessel was pressurized. Samples content and the moisture content at time t.
were then removed from the fryer and hold in a stainless
steel grid, as in atmospheric frying. 3.4. Color analysis

2.4. Experimental considerations 3.4.1. Image acquisition and capture


The digital image acquisition system consisted of a color
No de-oiling system was used in any experiment in order digital camera model PowerShot A70 (Canon, USA) con-
to determine the total oil content absorbed by the samples. nected to a computer USB interface IFC-300PCU (Canon,
Reported results correspond to the arithmetic mean of USA), mounted on a stand inside a large box impervious to
three batches ± standard deviation. Further, all determina- light with internal black surfaces. The lighting system con-
tions and measurements on each batch were carried out in sisted of four CIE source D65 lamps (60 cm length and
triplicate. 18 W; Model TLD/965, Philips, Singapore) placed above
In order to compare atmospheric and vacuum frying, the sample at a 45° angle to maximize diffuse reflection
equivalent thermal driving forces were used in both pro- responsible for color. The angle between the camera lens
cesses. The thermal driving force was defined as the differ- axis and the sample was around 90° to reduce gloss. A
ence between the oil temperature and the boiling point of Kodak gray card with 18% reflectance was used as a white
water at the working pressure (that is, 100 °C under atmo- reference to standardize the illumination level before each
spheric conditions and 55 °C under vacuum). Three levels session, as explained in Briones and Aguilera (2005). The
of oil temperature were studied: 140, 150 and 160 °C, for iris was operated in manual mode, with a lens aperture of
1564 M. Mariscal, P. Bouchon / Food Chemistry 107 (2008) 1561–1569

f = 8 and a speed 1/3 (1/6) (no zoom, no flash) to achieve Atmospheric Vacuum Vacuum +pre drying

high uniformity and repeatability.


Images were acquired immediately after frying. Samples 3.5 ΔT = 40°C
a
were placed in the field of view of the camera and an image 3.0
of 1600  1200 pixels was acquired and stored in JPEG 2.5
(Joint Photographic Experts Group) format of high resolu- 2.0
tion and fine quality, in RGB color coordinates. 1.5
1.0
3.4.2. Color measurement
0.5
L, a, b coordinates were obtained using Adobe Photo-
shop 6.0 software (Adobe Systems Inc., California, 0.0

Moisture loss during frying (g/g dry solids)


0 2 4 6 8 10 15
USA.), which were thereafter normalized to L*, a*, b*,
according to Eqs. (1)–(3) (Yam & Papadakis, 2004).
3.5 ΔT = 50°C
L b
L ¼  100 ð1Þ 3.0
255
2.5
240
a ¼ a   120 ð2Þ 2.0
255
240 1.5
b ¼ b   120 ð3Þ
255 1.0

Finally, the color difference between raw (L0 ,


and a0 , b0 Þ 0.5
fried apple slices (L*, a*, b*) was determined taking the 0.0
Euclidean distance between them, according to Eq. (4): 0 2 4 6 8 10 15

DE ¼ ½ðL0  L Þ2 þ ða0  a Þ2 þ ðb0  b Þ2 1=2 ð4Þ 4.0 ΔT = 60°C


3.5
c
3.5. Statistical analysis 3.0
2.5

Statistical analysis was done using Statgraphics for Win- 2.0

dows software, version 5.0 (Manugistic Inc., USA). Meth- 1.5


1.0
ods applied were analysis of variance, Tukey test and
0.5
Kruskal-Wallis test with 95% confidence level.
0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 15
4. Results and discussion
Frying time (min)

4.1. Moisture loss Fig. 1. Effect of frying method and pre-treatment on moisture loss for
increasing times when using different thermal driving forces: (a)
Fig. 1 shows the development of moisture loss when fry- DT = 40 °C, (b) DT = 50 °C and (c) DT = 60 °C. Points are means ±
standard deviation.
ing apple slices at atmospheric conditions and under vac-
uum either with or without pre-treatment, for the
different driving forces used in this study. the pre-drying step which imposes initial higher resistance
Initially, the rate of water loss is high; there is an initial to the escape.
rapid fall of water content mainly due to loss of surface
water. In vacuum frying this initial vigorous escape of 4.2. Oil uptake
water is similar to the one obtained under atmospheric con-
ditions, especially when decreasing the driving force. How- Fig. 2 shows the development of oil uptake (dry basis)
ever, for longer frying times, a difference between both for increasing frying times using different thermal driving
technologies is observed. Differences can be partly due to forces (DT = 40, 50, 60 °C) for atmospheric, vacuum and
microstructural changes that might occur during the initial pre-dried vacuum fried apple slices. The general pattern
depressurization step that might affect water escape, after is an initial rapid increase followed by a gradually decreas-
unbound water surface water is loss. Also, water vapor ing gradient, with a final increase for the longest frying time
accumulation in the head space of the fryer might affect (15 min).
moisture loss rate, an effect that can be accentuated at The statistical analysis showed that the frying method
higher thermal driving forces, because of the higher dehy- and pre-treatment have a significant effect (p < 0.05) in oil
dration rate. In pre-dried vacuum fried apples the loss of uptake (g oil/g dry solids) when analyzing the same driving
water is even less vigorous because of the lower amount force. The highest oil absorption is consistently obtained
of water available and because of crust formation during when frying under atmospheric conditions, whereas the
M. Mariscal, P. Bouchon / Food Chemistry 107 (2008) 1561–1569 1565

Atmospheric Vacuum Vacuum +pre drying In fact, oil absorption is essentially a surface-related phe-
3.0 ΔT = 40°C
nomenon resulting from the competition between drainage
a and suction into the porous crust once the food is removed
2.5
from the oil bath and begins to cool (Bouchon et al., 2003;
2.0 Moreira et al., 1997; Ufheil & Escher, 1996), and therefore
1.5
crust permeability is of paramount importance.
Vacuum fried slices suffer slighter structural changes
1.0
compared to their atmospheric counterpart, an aspect that
0.5 may well reduce oil uptake. In fact, visual observation
0.0
showed that the surface of vacuum fried slices was less
0 2 4 6 8 10 15 expanded than the surface of those fried under atmospheric
conditions. This can be a direct consequence of the lower
Oil content (g/g dry solids)

3.0 ΔT = 50°C vapor-pressure of water in vacuum frying. In addition,


b higher temperatures (like those involved in atmospheric
2.5
frying) induce added structural changes, as a consequence
2.0
of tissue/constituents degradation, which enhance the
1.5 absorption. In this process, it has been proposed that oil
1.0
absorption should also occur at the end of the process,
and the pressurization step should be critical, because of
0.5
the rapid increase in pressure to atmospheric values that
0.0 would force surface oil into the product (Garayo & More-
0 2 4 6 8 10 15
ira, 2002). Consequently, adequate drainage before pres-
surization is important and certainly a crust with a lower
3.0
c ΔT = 60°C permeability would reduce the uptake.
2.5 Moisture loss has long been claimed to be an important
factor in oil absorption (Gamble et al., 1987; Pinthus,
2.0
Weinberg, & Saguy, 1993). In fact, the amount of water
1.5 removed during the process determines the extent of crust
1.0 formation, which defines the volume of the final oil reser-
voir. Certainly, final oil intake would also depend on the
0.5
oil layer deposited on the surface of the product after the
0.0 immersion.
0 2 4 6 8 10 15
Fig. 3 shows oil uptake versus moisture loss results,
Frying time (min) along with the tendency line obtained using simple regres-
sion (linear model), for the different driving forces. Coeffi-
Fig. 2. Effect of frying method and pre-treatment on oil content for
increasing times when using different thermal driving forces: (a) cients of determination (R2 values) for the regressions were
DT = 40 °C, (b) DT = 50 °C and (c) DT = 60 °C. Points are means ± stan- 94.91%, 95.33%, and 93.18% for DT = 40, 50 and 60 °C,
dard deviation. respectively, showing a good relationship between both
quantities. This linear relationship shows that traditional
observations made for atmospheric deep-fat frying (Gam-
lowest oil absorption is always obtained for pre-dried vac- ble et al., 1987) also apply to vacuum frying. This implies
uum fried apples. For instance, after frying for 15 min at that in this set of experiments oil reduction (dry base) in
DT = 40 °C, atmospheric fried slices absorb 21% more oil vacuum fried slices would be mainly due to the reduction
than vacuum fried slices and more than 3 times, the amount in moisture loss during the process (for the same frying
of oil absorbed by pre-dried vacuum fried slices. time) and therefore the water vapor replacement mecha-
When the driving force is increased, the difference in oil nism claimed for atmospheric frying would also apply to
uptake between pre-dried vacuum fried and vacuum fried vacuum frying. However, this should not be an exclusive
slices decreases at the longest frying time, whereas the dif- factor since compared to atmospheric frying most data
ference between the latter and atmospheric frying increases. points are below the trend line, denoting lower oil contents,
For instance, after frying for 15 min at DT = 60 °C, atmo- implying that oil uptake is additionally impaired.
spheric fried slices absorb 47% and 55% more oil than vac- Interestingly, even though pre-dried vacuum fried slices
uum fried and pre-dried vacuum fried slices, respectively. show low levels of water loss and oil uptake (dots associ-
The high reduction in oil uptake of pre-dried apple slices ated to pre-dried vacuum fried slices are located at the
is mainly due to crust development and surface changes lower-bottom part of the trend-line), a positive correlation
occurring during the drying step. In effect, crust micro- still exists between both fractions. This relationship can be
structure development (mean pore size, connectedness the expression of an overall reduction of crust permeability
and permeability) has a marked effect in oil absorption. during the pre-drying step, which affects both fluxes.
1566 M. Mariscal, P. Bouchon / Food Chemistry 107 (2008) 1561–1569

Atmospheric Vacuum Vacuum +pre drying Atmospheric Vacuum Vacuum +pre drying

ΔT = 40°C ΔT = 40°C
2.5 100
a a
90
2

2
80
1.5 R = 0.9491
70
1
60
0.5
50
0 40
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0 2 4 6 8 10 15

ΔT = 50°C
Oil content (g/g dry solids)

2.5 100 ΔT = 50°C


b b
2 90

Lightness (L*)
2 80
1.5 R = 0.9533

70
1
60
0.5
50
0
40
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 15

3 ΔT = 60°C
100
c c ΔT = 60°C
2.5 90

2 80
2
R = 0.9318 70
1.5
60
1
50
0.5 40

0 30
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 20
0 2 4 6 8 10 15
Moisture loss during frying (g/g dry solids)
Frying time (min)
Fig. 3. Oil content versus moisture loss during frying for different thermal
driving forces: (a) DT = 40 °C, (b) DT = 50 °C and (c) DT = 60 °C. Fig. 4. Effect of frying method and pre-treatment on lightness (L*) for
increasing times when using different thermal driving forces: (a)
DT = 40 °C, (b) DT = 50 °C and (c) DT = 60 °C. Points are means ± stan-
Clearly, if the whole loss of water is considered (by adding dard deviation.
the amount lost during the pre-drying step), the relation-
ship between both fractions is still maintained. However,
associated data points would not follow any more a trend values decreased greatly in conventional frying for increas-
line along with the other two samples, but a new one dis- ing frying times. For instance, when frying at 160 °C
placed downwards, making evident the overall reduction (DT = 60 °C), L* diminished from an initial value of 76.4
in oil uptake. (un-fried blanched slices) to a final value, after frying for
Finally, it is interesting to note that when the whole set 15 min, of 32 (much darker). On the other hand, L*
of data is analyzed using simple regression (linear model), a remained nearly constant in vacuum and pre-dried vacuum
R2 = 93.92% is obtained, denoting the good relationship fried slices, and no significant (p > 0.05) differences were
between both fractions. found between them when analyzing the whole set of data
and when analyzing frying time 10 and 15 min. Besides, L*
4.3. Color analysis values did not differ greatly from raw apple discs
(L0 = 86.4).
Most important changes in color were observed when L* is a critical parameter in the frying industry, and is
analyzing L* (lightness) and a* (red–green chromaticity) usually used as a quality control factor, therefore its ade-
coordinates, which are discussed next. quate control is of great importance. High L* values are
Fig. 4 shows the change in L* for the different samples mainly associated to non-enzymatic browning reactions.
for increasing frying times and driving forces. Overall, L* These can occur between reducing sugars and amino acids,
M. Mariscal, P. Bouchon / Food Chemistry 107 (2008) 1561–1569 1567

but also between ascorbic acid, dehydroascorbic acid (oxi- did not affect significantly a* value (p > 0.05). It remained
dized ascorbic acid) or other degradation products from mostly negative or near to zero for all samples (vacuum
ascorbic-acid oxidation, who enter into Maillard-type and pre-dried vacuum fried samples), close to the one of
browning reactions. Also, the dehydroascorbic acid lactone a raw apple disc, reflecting the little impact of this technol-
ring can be irreversibly opened, giving rise to diketogulonic ogy on the color of the product.
acid, which can be further degraded into several color com- In order to analyze the overall impact of the frying pro-
pounds (e.g. furfural polymers) (Belitz, Grosch, & Schi- cedure on the color of the product, the color difference
eberle, 2004). Ascorbic acid oxidation is certainly between raw (L0 , a0 , b0 Þ and fried apple slices (L*, a*, b*)
hindered under vacuum, and overall, all chemical reactions was determined according to Eq. (4).
are slowed down when the oil temperature is reduced. Fig. 6 shows the change in DE* for all samples for
Browning reactions had a big impact in red–green chro- increasing frying times and driving forces. In atmospheric
maticity (a*). The red–green chromaticity increased consid- frying DE* increased progressively as the frying time
erably in atmospheric frying, changing from negative increased, enhancing the difference with the raw counter-
values (towards green) to positive ones (increasing red- part. Vacuum and pre-dried vacuum fried slices showed
ness), as shown in Fig. 5.
The final value, obtained after frying for 15 min under
atmospheric conditions, was not significantly different Atmospheric Vacuum Vacuum +pre drying

(p > 0.05) for the different oil temperatures. Vacuum frying 80 Δ T = 40°C
a
Atmospheric Vacuum Vacuum +pre drying 60

30 ΔT = 40°C
a 40
20

10 20

0
0
-10 0 2 4 6 8 10 15

-20
0 2 4 6 8 10 15 80 Δ T = 50°C
b
Color difference (ΔΕ∗)

ΔT = 50°C
Green-red Chromaticity (a*)

30 60
b
20
40
10

0 20

-10
0
-20 0 2 4 6 8 10 15
0 2 4 6 8 10 15

80 Δ T = 60°C
30 ΔT =60°C c
c
20 60

10
40
0

-10 20

-20
0 2 4 6 8 10 15 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 15
Frying time (min)
Frying time (min)
Fig. 5. Effect of frying method and pre-treatment on green–red chroma-
ticity (a*) for increasing times when using different thermal driving forces: Fig. 6. Effect of frying method and pre-treatment on DE* for increasing
(a) DT = 40 °C, (b) DT = 50 °C and (c) DT = 60 °C. Points are times when using different thermal driving forces: (a) DT = 40 °C, (b)
means ± standard deviation. DT = 50 °C and (c) DT = 60 °C. Points are means ± standard deviation.
1568 M. Mariscal, P. Bouchon / Food Chemistry 107 (2008) 1561–1569

much lower values, which importantly, remained nearly (lower L* values) and no significant differences were found
constant for increasing frying times. That is, even though between pre-dried vacuum fried and vacuum fried slices. In
vacuum frying induces changes in color, these changes relation to green–red chromaticity (a*), traditional fried
remain stable for increasing frying times. Lower mean val- apples showed a great increase in a* value for increasing
ues in DE* were found in pre-dried vacuum fried slices at all frying times as a consequence of raw-color loss and brown-
temperatures (always below 20), except when frying for ing. This was evident when analyzing the overall color dif-
15 min at 115 °C (DE* = 33). ference between raw and fried apple slices (DE*), which
In vacuum fried slices DE* oscillated between 20 and 30, increased steadily as time increased during atmospheric fry-
whereas in atmospheric frying DE* achieved values as high ing. On the other hand, apple slices fried under vacuum
as 60. Statistical differences (p < 0.05) in DE* were found conditions were lighter and showed only minor changes
between atmospheric, vacuum and pre-dried vacuum fried in DE* for increasing frying times.
slices when frying at 95 °C (DT = 40 °C) and 105 °C
(DT = 50 °C). Nevertheless, no significant differences were
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