Comparison between atmospheric and vacuum frying of apple slices

Vacuum deep-fat frying is a new technology that can be used to improve quality attributes of fried food because of the low temperatures 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 (ΔT = 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 ΔT = 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.     

Modeling water loss and oil uptake during vacuum frying of pre-treated potato slices

The objective of this research was to determine the kinetics of water loss and oil uptake during frying of pre-treated potato slices under vacuum and atmospheric pressure. Potato slices (diameter: 30 mm; width: 3 mm) were pre-treated in the following ways: (i) raw potato slices “control”; (ii) control slices were blanched in hot water at 85 °C for 3.5 min; (iii) blanched slices were dried in hot air until reaching a moisture content of ∼0.6 g water/g dry basis. The slices were fried under vacuum (5.37 kPa, absolute pressure, at 120, 130 and 140 °C) and atmospheric conditions (at 180 °C). Two models based on the Fick's law were used to describe water loss: (i) with a constant effective diffusive coefficient; and (ii) with a variable effective diffusive coefficient. Oil uptake data were fitted to an empirical model, with a linear behavior for short times whereas the model was time independent for long times. The variable diffusivity model better fitted experimental water loss, giving values of effective diffusivity between 4.73 × 10⁻⁹ and 1.80 × 10⁻⁸ m²/s. The proposed model for the study of the kinetics of oil uptake fitted the experimental data properly. Control and blanched vacuum fried potato chips increased their final oil contents to 57.1% and 75.4% respectively, when compared with those fried at atmospheric pressure. However, the oil absorption of dried vacuum fried potato chips diminished by ∼30%.     

Phenolic compounds in Chinese purple yam and changes during vacuum frying

Phenolic compounds and their changes during vacuum frying were investigated for a Chinese purple yam. Three cyanidin derivatives and one peonidin derivative were tentatively identified by HPLC–DAD–ESIMS analysis; sinapic acid and ferulic acid were identified by HPLC–DAD analysis with authentic chemicals. There were 31.0 mg/100 g (dry weight, DW) of total anthocyanin (ACN) and 478 mg/100 g DW of total phenolic content (TPC) in the fresh yam. Sinapic acid and ferulic acid were 135 and 31.3 mg/100 g DW respectively. The blanching process caused about 60% of ACN, and 30–50% of phenolic acids and TPC to be lost, which showed that anthocyanins were most vulnerable during blanching. The retention rate of the phenolic compounds during vacuum frying was 60–69%, indicating it was a practical technology for purple yam processing, on account of its impact on the phenolic compounds stability.     

Physico-chemical changes occurring in oil when atmospheric frying is combined with post-frying vacuum application

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of atmospheric frying followed by drainage under vacuum on the stability of oil, compared to similar frying with drainage at atmospheric pressure. Changes in the oil were assessed by the free fatty acid (FFA) content, p-anisidine value (AnV), colour, viscosity, fatty acid profile and concentration of tocols. The rate of FFA formation in the case of vacuum drainage was found to be about half that of atmospheric drainage. Oil deterioration by oxidation and polymerisation was also reduced by the use of vacuum drainage. The AnV of the oil after vacuum drainage was lower by about 12%, the total colour difference was improved by 14% and viscosity was slightly reduced after 5 days of frying, compared to the values for oil that had been drained at atmospheric pressure. There was a reduction in the loss of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the case of vacuum drainage after 5 days of frying but differences in retention of tocols were only evident in the first two days of frying.     

Reviewing the effects of vacuum frying on frying medium and fried foods properties

Vacuum frying (VF) is a process developed at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure, in which lower temperatures are employed to remove moisture from the food and reduce the oil content in the final product. Diverse studies have been published for VF or assisted with microwave and ultrasound, facing the challenges of accomplishing the physical and sensory properties appreciated in fried products. The studied matrices under VF include mainly vegetable origin foods (apple, banana, carrot, donuts, kiwi, mushroom, pea, pear, potato and sweet potato) and some animal origin products (chicken nuggets, fish fillets and surimi products). This review aimed to show recent and relevant findings of the application of VF, analysing both the effects on the frying medium and the impact on the fried foods. The inclusion of microwave and ultrasound technologies aids in the obtention of high-quality products in terms of sensory and textural attributes, oil content as well as reduced oil degradation. This technique may provide safer and stable fried foods with lower oil content aiding in improving the diet of consumers and reducing production costs.     

真空油炸过程中干燥特性和产品品质变化的研究

研究了胡萝卜脆片真空油炸过程中干燥特性和产品品质的变化,结果表明:真空油炸过程属于传统的降速干燥过程,其水分和脂肪的变化符合一级反应动力学规律,利用非线性回归法求解得到了胡萝卜脆片水分和脂肪含量、干燥速率随油炸时间变化的方程;随着油炸时间的延长,胡萝卜脆片直径不断减小,厚度不断增加,油炸20min后,其直径和厚度皱缩度分别达到6%和4.5%;真空油炸胡萝卜脆片气孔数量不断增加,细胞结构变形程度增强。真空油炸过程中胡萝卜脆片脂肪主要分布于脆片的表面,冷却过程中脂肪逐渐向中心渗透,中心脂肪含量可达到60%。     

Microstructural approach to understand oil absorption during vacuum and atmospheric frying

Crust microstructure plays a critical role in oil uptake of atmospheric fried food and seems to play an important role in vacuum fried products. The objective of this study was to understand the relationship between key microstructural parameters and oil absorption, after atmospheric and vacuum frying of different vegetable tissues. The effect of drainage and centrifugation in oil-uptake reduction was also analyzed. Key microstructural parameters were determined using gas adsorption at cryogenic temperatures, while oil location and surface roughness were studied using confocal laser scanning microscopy and area-scale fractal analysis, respectively. Overall, we found a linear relationship between porosity and final oil content in vacuum and atmospheric fried chips. However, this relationship could not be extended when analyzing the whole set of data, since oil absorption was significantly higher in atmospheric fried chips. Centrifugation allowed reducing oil-uptake up to 73% in atmospheric fried chips and up to 64% in vacuum fried ones.     

Influence of temperature on heat transfer coefficient during moderate vacuum deep-fat frying

The objective of this study is to analyze the influence of temperature and reduced pressure on the convective heat transfer coefficient, h, during frying of products with different area/volume ratio. h was determined from surface temperature and moisture loss experimental data during frying of potato cylinders and “churros”, at different oil temperatures (100, 120 and 140 °C) and moderate vacuum (19.5–25.9 kPa). The results obtained during vacuum frying were compared with those obtained at atmospheric pressure, both for the same oil temperature (140 °C) and for the same thermal gradient (40 °C). During frying, h changes considerably, reaching a maximum between 700–1600 Wm⁻² K⁻¹ in vacuum frying and 800–2000 Wm⁻² K⁻¹ in atmospheric frying. To quantify the effect of oil temperature, pressure and size of the product on h, a parameter called “bubbling efficiency”, BE, was defined. BE relates the bubble departure radius and the area/volume ratio of the product. An equation (the derivative of the Gompertz function) was proposed to estimate the mean heat convective coefficients for each frying condition as a function of BE (R² = 0.957). The relation between h and BE shows a maximum corresponding to an optimal bubbling pattern. Most of the vacuum frying settings are outside this optimum, being affected by the insulation effect of bubbles covering the surface.     

真空低温煎炸对油稳定性影响的研究

主要探讨了真空低温煎炸胡萝卜片后3种煎炸油的稳定性,研究了3种煎炸油的酸值、过氧化值、羰基值随煎炸时间的变化规律,并分析了它们之间的相关性.结果显示,与大豆色拉油相比,棕榈油和猪油有更高的煎炸稳定性;3种油的酸值、过氧化值、羰基值与煎炸时间存在着显著的相关性.     

Comparative study of physical and sensory properties of pre-treated potato slices during vacuum and atmospheric frying

The objective of this research was to study the effect of different processing conditions on physical and sensory properties of potato chips. Potato slices of Desirée and Panda varieties (diameter: 30 mm; thickness: 3 mm) were pre-treated in the following ways: (i) control or unblanched slices without pre-drying; (ii) blanched slices in hot water at 85 °C for 3.5 min and air-dried at 60 °C until a final moisture content of ∼0.6 kg water/kg dry solid; (iii) control slices soaked in a 3.5 kg/m³ sodium metabisulphite solution at 20 °C for 3 min and pH adjusted to 3. Pre-treated slices were fried at 120 and 140 °C under vacuum conditions (5.37 kPa, absolute pressure) and under atmospheric pressure until they reached a final moisture content of ∼1.8 kg water/100 kg (wet basis). An experimental design (3 × 2³) was used to analyze the effect of pre-treatment, potato variety, type of frying and frying temperature over the following responses: oil content, instrumental color and texture and sensory evaluation. Vacuum frying increased significantly (p < 0.05) oil content and decreased instrumental color and textural parameters. Sensory attributes, flavor quality and overall quality, were significantly improved using vacuum frying. The higher frying temperature (140 °C) increased ΔE, maximum breaking force, hardness and crispness and decreased L^* and b^* values. On the other hand, Panda potato variety improved the color of the product. A great improvement on color parameters was obtained using sulphited potato slices instead of the other pre-treatments. Although, the better flavor was obtained for control potato chips, no significant differences were found for overall quality between control and sulphited potato chips. Significant correlations (p < 0.01) between sensory and instrumental responses were found.     

食用植物油煎炸过程中的品质变化北大核心CSCD

利用花生油、大豆油、调和油、棕榈油4种食用植物油作为煎炸油对豆腐、裹粉鸡柳、油条3种食材进行煎炸,研究煎炸时间对煎炸油极性组分含量及羰基值的影响,确定煎炸油时间预警点,同时研究了不同煎炸油品种、不同食材对煎炸油极性组分含量的影响。结果表明:极性组分含量、羰基值均与煎炸时间呈正相关(r_(极性组分)=0.809,r_(羰基值)=0.859,P=0.000);煎炸6~11 h煎炸油极性组分含量均值从初始的11.85%增至20.96%,最大值为34.10%,可作为煎炸油质量不达标的时间预警点;煎炸12 h,极性组分含量从低到高依次为花生油、棕榈油、调和油、大豆油,含量分别为21.1%、24.1%、26.8%、27.8%,豆腐、裹粉鸡柳、油条煎炸油中极性组分含量分别为17.7%、25.0%、32.2%;煎炸18 h,极性组分含量增大程度由低到高为棕榈油/调和油、大豆油、花生油,煎炸食材用油为豆腐煎炸油、裹粉鸡柳煎炸油、油条煎炸油。     

荤素分类煎炸对油脂品质的影响

为了延长煎炸油的使用寿命,有效降低成本,研究了荤素分类煎炸对油脂品质的影响。采用食材荤素分类及不分类煎炸并循环使用煎炸油,分析了两种煎炸方式下煎炸油的色泽、酸值、过氧化值、p-茴香胺值、极性组分含量的变化情况,并对比分析两种煎炸方式用油量。结果表明：采用荤素分类煎炸可以更好地抑制油脂色泽、酸值、p-茴香胺值及极性组分含量的增长速度;不分类煎炸油脂的色泽在煎炸2 d后无法用比色仪检测,分类煎炸7 d后油脂的色泽才接近不分类煎炸2 d的色泽;不分类煎炸的油脂酸值(KOH)在煎炸前3 d内急剧上升,由初始的0.09 mg/g增至1.30 mg/g,分类煎炸的油脂酸值(KOH)浮动较小,由初始的0.09 mg/g最高增加至0.62 mg/g;在煎炸7 d时,不分类煎炸的油脂p-茴香胺值由初始的4.0增加到38.0,分类煎炸的油脂p-茴香胺值由初始的4.0增加到15.0,不分类煎炸油脂的p-茴香胺值的增长速度是分类煎炸的近3倍;不分类煎炸,油脂极性组分含量在第1天内急剧上升,在第4天达到最高,为12.5%,后逐渐趋于平稳,分类煎炸,油脂极性组分含量在前3 d内均保持在8%左右,之后才有上升的趋势...     

Vacuum frying process of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) fillets

Vacuum frying was tested as an alternative technique to develop low oil content fried gilthead sea bream fillets. Three oil temperatures for vacuum frying (90, 100, and 110 °C) were considered. For each temperature the times investigated were 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 min. To compare the effect of vacuum frying to atmospheric frying on the characteristics of gilthead sea bream fillets and frying rate, treatment at 165 °C was considered. The effect of oil temperature and pressure conditions on the drying process and oil absorption of sea bream fillets was investigated. Other product attributes such as shrinkage and colour were analyzed. Atmospheric frying (165 °C) produces a greater decrease in the mass of the fillets than vacuum frying treatment. Compared with atmospheric frying, oil content of vacuum-fried fish fillets was lower. After ten minutes of treatment the values obtained for vacuum frying were 0.14 ± 0.01 g_oil/g_{dry solid}, 0.18 ± 0.02 g_oil/g_{dry solid} and 0.12 ± 0.01 g_oil/g_{dry solid} for 90 °C, 100 °C and 110 °C respectively and 0.27 ± 0.01 g_oil/g_{dry solid} for traditional frying at 165 °C. Atmospheric frying was the treatment that produced the greatest shrinkage in the fillets reaching values of 36.8% with respect to the fresh sample after ten minutes of treatment. For vacuum treatments shrinkage values ranged between 23.7% and 33.0% at 100 °C and 110 °C respectively after 10 min of frying. According to the results, the vacuum treated samples became lighter, less greener and more yellow.

Industrial relevance

Healthy products are a tendency in the international market. Vacuum frying offers some advantages that can include: the preservation of natural colour and flavours of the products due to low temperature and low oxygen content during the process (better than with conventional deep fat frying), and has less adverse effects on oil quality. The use of this technology on fish products can improve the problems of market saturation at the present time for some species like gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata).     

Vacuum frying of high-quality fruit and vegetable-based snacks

Sweet potato, green beans, Tommy Atkins mango, and blue potato were fried in a vacuum frying process at a temperature of 120-130 ± 1°C. Before frying, green beans and mango slices were soaked in a 50% maltodextrine 0.15% citric acid solution. The products were also fried in a traditional (atmospheric pressure) fryer at 160-165 ± 1°C for 4 min. A 30-member consumer panel rated the sensory quality of both types of fried snacks using a 1-9 hedonic scale. Compared with traditional frying, oil content of vacuum-fried sweet-potato chips and green beans was 24% and 16% lower, respectively. Blue potato and mango chips had 6% and 5% more oil, respectively, than the traditional-fried samples. Anthocyanin (mg/100 g d.b.) of vacuum-fried blue potato chips was 60% higher. Final total carotenoids (mg/g d.b.) were higher by 18% for green beans, 19% for mango chips, and by 51% for sweet-potato chips. Sensory panelists overwhelmingly preferred (p < 0.05) the vacuum-fried products for color, texture, taste, and overall quality. Most of the products retained or accentuated their original colors when fried under vacuum. The traditional-fried products showed excessive darkening and scorching. These results support the applicability of vacuum frying technology to provide high-quality fruit and vegetable snacks.     

Effects of ultrasound-assisted frying on the physiochemical properties and microstructure of fried meatballs

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of power ultrasound (0, 200, 400, 600 and 800 W, 20 kHz) on the quality of fried meatballs. The frying time and frying temperature were also considered as fixed factors. The meatballs were fried for 8, 12 and 16 min at 120, 140 and 160 °C. Results showed that the ultrasonic groups saved about 1 to 3 min than the control group to 80 °C. Hardness, springiness, cohesiveness and chewiness of fried meatballs were significantly different among different ultrasonic treatments (P < 0.05). As for colour, the ultrasonic treatments could significantly increase the L*values. Cooking yield was from 82.58% to 85.50% in ultrasonic treatments at 120 °C for 8 min. High moisture retention and cooking yield were shown in fried-assisted ultrasound treatments and were consistent with the microstructure of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Our data show that ultrasound-assisted frying could improve the quality of meatballs.     

Influence of the vacuum break conditions on oil uptake during potato post-frying cooling

Reduced pressure frying is an alternative to conventional frying that enables products to be obtained at lower processing temperatures with lower fat content. The oil uptake in frying mainly occurs during the subsequent cooling stage. With vacuum frying, this stage necessarily includes a period of vacuum break when the system recovers the initial pressure. The different conditions under which this pressurisation occurs can influence the final oil content of the product. To study this effect, potatoes of the “Monalisa” variety, with different geometries, were fried at 140 °C and moderate vacuum (24.9 kPa). Various combinations of draining times (30, 60, and 90 s) and vacuum break velocity, VBV (0.75, 2.21, 4.43 and 12.43 kPa s⁻¹), were tested for this stage, and the final oil content of the product determined by comparison with the dry weight. The results showed that both parameters have a significant influence (α < 0.05) on oil uptake. A short draining time and a low vacuum break velocity result in greater final fat content. There is a linear relationship between the oil uptake and the inverse of VBV, following the Washburn equation. The influence of VBV is such that differences of up to 70% in the final fat content can be obtained in the range tested.     

煎炸过程中油脂劣变的影响因素研究

分别对煎炸时间、煎炸方式、煎炸温度、煎炸食材及煎炸油种类对煎炸油极性组分含量和酸值的影响进行研究,分析控制煎炸过程中油脂劣变的有效措施。结果表明：煎炸油的极性组分含量、酸值随煎炸时间的延长而升高,且连续性煎炸优于间歇性煎炸;煎炸温度越高,油脂劣变速度越快,油脂的极性组分含量、酸值升高越快,为保证煎炸食品的卫生质量,延长煎炸油的使用寿命,控制煎炸温度低于200 ℃;不同煎炸食材对煎炸油品质劣变速度的影响大小依次为鱼饼>鸡腿排>薯条;不同煎炸油在煎炸过程中极性组分含量、酸值的变化均不同,多不饱和脂肪酸含量高的大豆油比稻米油、棕榈油更容易发生水解和氧化,稻米油的煎炸周期接近棕榈油。     

基于模糊数学评价法优化木瓜脆片真空油炸工艺

对木瓜脆片的真空油炸工艺参数进行优化研究,以期为开发木瓜休闲即食食品提供技术依据。以色泽、形状、酥脆度和油腻感为感官评价指标,在单因素实验的基础上进行正交实验设计,考察真空油炸温度、油炸时间、真空度对木瓜脆片品质的影响。结果表明,以感官评定为基础的木瓜脆片的权重集为K=(色泽0.26,形状0.21,酥脆度0.35,油腻感0.18);应用模糊数学综合评价法优化得到真空油炸木瓜脆片的最佳工艺条件为:真空油炸温度100℃,油炸时间35 min,真空度0.09 MPa。在此条件下,木瓜脆片的综合感官评定等级为优,其优秀峰值为0.656,产品酥脆可口、营养美味,易于被消费者接受。将模糊数学应用于真空油炸木瓜脆片的感官评价,能够极大消除评价员主观因素对评价结果的影响,使评价结果更加客观准确。      

真空油炸甘薯脆片的研究

以甘薯为原料,对真空油炸甘薯脆片加工工艺进行优化实验,为获得优质甘薯脆片产品的开发提供了参考依据。