KINETICS of QUALITY CHANGE DURING COOKING and FRYING of POTATOES: PART I. TEXTURE

Kinetics of texture change during cooking and frying of potatoes were evaluated in this study. Potatoes were cut into cylinders (diameter × height: 20 mm × 20 mm for cooking, and 10 mm × 20 mm for frying) and cooked in a temperature controlled water bath at 80–100C or fried in a commercial fryer at 160–190C for selected times. the cooked samples were water cooled while the fried samples were air cooled immediately after the treatment. Test samples were then subjected to a single cycle compression test in a computer interfaced Universal Testing Machine and three textural properties (hardness, stiffness and firmness) were derived from the resulting force‐deformation curves. Texture parameters of cooked potatoes decreased with progress of cooking time and the rate of texture changes associated with each temperature was found to be consistent with two pseudo first‐order kinetic mechanisms, one more rapid than the other. Textural values of fried potatoes were found to increase with frying time and also followed a first order kinetic model. Temperature sensitivity of rate constants was adequately described by Arrhenius and z‐value models.