Effects of foaming agents and foam density on drying characteristics and textural property of banana foams

The technique of foaming has proved effective in creating a porous structure, which is an important requirement for crisp food. Foam density and the type of foaming agent indeed play a key role in determining the drying kinetics and textural property of the foamed food. The influences of the foam density and the types of foaming agents on the moisture diffusivity as well as the quality in terms of microstructure, texture and volatile losses of banana foams were therefore investigated. Three foaming agents, i.e., fresh egg albumen (EA), soy protein isolate (SPI) and whey protein concentrate (WPC) were used. The experimental results showed that WPC banana foam could retain more open structure during drying. This morphology provided less shrinkage and led to higher values of the effective diffusivity as compared with that of SPI and EA banana foams. In terms of the textural properties, WPC and EA banana foams were spongy and less crisp than SPI banana foam. Samples with lower foam densities exhibited higher values of the effective diffusivity, smaller hardness and lower crispness than those with higher foam densities. The losses of volatile substances were substantial during all processing steps, but the major losses were during the foaming step.