Effect of low temperature on the microwave-assisted vacuum frying of potato chips

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of low temperature on the microwave-assisted vacuum frying of potato chips. A newly built, in-house, microwave-assisted frying machine was developed and used in this study. The effect of low temperature on the microwave-assisted vacuum frying of potato chips was investigated via comparing sample properties prepared with frying temperatures of 90°C, 95°C, and 100°C. The experience was taken at the same vacuum degree in every frying process. Parameters of included moisture content, oil content, color parameters (lightness, redness, and yellowness), and textures (hardness, crispness) were used to evaluate the effect of different frying temperatures on the microwave-assisted vacuum frying of potato chips. Results showed that with lower temperature in microwave-assisted frying, the rate of moisture evaporation of potato chips was slowed down and the time of the ending of frying was prolonged from 10 min with a frying temperature of 100°C to 14 min with 90°C and 12 min with 95°C. Meanwhile, the oil content in fried potato chips was increased with lower temperature in microwave-assisted vacuum frying. The breaking force of final products are not significantly (p > 0.05) affected in different frying temperatures of microwave-assisted vacuum frying. Also, the frying temperature of 100°C in microwave-assisted vacuum frying had better preservation of natural color than the lower frying temperature with prolonged frying time. Results showed that the temperature is one of the main factors that affect the quality of microwave-assisted vacuum frying of potato chips and the producer could find suitable temperature conditions according to experience.