Using hydrocolloids to decrease oil absorption in banana chips
Introduction
Frying is one of the oldest cooking processes of food, inducing chemical and physical properties changes including starch gelatinization, protein denature, water vaporization and crust formation (Mallikarjunan et al., 1997, Rimac-Brncic et al., 2004). This process affects heat and mass transfer, causing oil movement into the product as well as water movement from the product into the oil.
Deep-fat frying is a widely used method for preparing foods. The aim of deep-fat frying is to seal the food surface by immersing food pieces in the hot oil so that all flavors and juices are retained inside. The high temperature causes partial evaporation of water, which moves away from the food and through the surrounding oil (Khalil, 1999, Moyano et al., 2002). The soft and moist interior along with the porous crispy crust provides increased palatability to foods (Akdeniz et al., 2006, Mallikarjunan et al., 1997, Mellema, 2003). Moreover, interest in low fat products has recently increased. Fried foods also contain high amount of fat, yet remain popular. Interest in low fat product has recently increased as excess fat consumption is considered to heighten blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and coronary heart disease. Thus, research in reducing oil absorption during deep-fat frying has been intense in recent years. Hydrocolloids have been used as multifunctional additives in food processing to improve functional properties such as viscosity, water binding capacity and emulsion stability (Aguilera and Gloria-Hernández, 2000, Bravin et al., 2006, Phillips and Williams, 2000, Whistler and BeMiller, 1993).
Hydrocolloids are of special interest because they possess good barrier property against oxygen, carbon dioxide and lipids which could reduce oil absorption during deep-fat frying (Albert and Mittal, 2002, Mallikarjunan et al., 1997, Rimac-Brncic et al., 2004, Williams and Mittal, 1999). Some of the most useful hydrocolloids are cellulose derivatives such as methyl cellulose (MC), hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC). All these cellulose derivatives are water soluble with good film-forming properties (Priya, Singhal, & Kulkarni, 1996). Alginate and pectin are widely used in food systems to stabilize and to modify the rheology of food. The most useful property is gelation, which is formed by intermolecular association with polyvalent cations (Albert and Mittal, 2002, Khalil, 1999, Rimac-Brncic et al., 2004).
Banana chips are one of many popular One Tambon One Product (OTOP) snack in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. However, published data of fried banana chips is very limited. The main objective of this study was to investigate the influence of hydrocolloids (alginate, carboxyl methyl cellulose and pectin) on the oil absorption in banana chips.
Section snippets
Materials
Bananas (Musa sapientum Linn.) were purchased from a local market in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. The hydrocolloids used in the investigation were carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC) (Thai food and chemical Co., Ltd., Thailand), pectin and sodium alginate (International Specialty Products (ISP) Thailand Ltd., Thailand).
Preparation of banana chips
The bananas were washed, hand-peeled and cut into strips (0.2 cm thickness) and washed with water. The strips were blanched in an aqueous solution of calcium chloride (CaCl2) at
Results and discussion
The qualities of banana chips influenced by 2-step coating with CaCl2 at different concentrations (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 g/100 ml distilled water) and 0.5, 1.0 or 1.5 g hydrocolloids (alginate, CMC and pectin)/100 ml distilled water were studied (Fig. 1 and Table 1, Table 2, Table 3). Only one chip sample from each group of hydrocolloid which contained the least oil content and accepted the highest scores in all attributes was considered as the best treatment for further study. The results showed that
Conclusion
The use of hydrocolloids to decrease oil absorption in banana chips was studied. The best results were obtained from the banana chips blanched in 0.5 g CaCl2/100 ml distilled water and treated with 1 g pectin/100 ml distilled water and in 0.5 g CaCl2/100 ml distilled water and treated with 1 g CMC/100 ml distilled water, whose oil contents greatly reduced from 40.22 g/100 g sample to 22.89 and 22.91 g/100 g sample, respectively. Treating banana chips with CaCl2 and pectin or with CaCl2 and CMC resulted in
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by Ubon Ratchathani University, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. The authors wish also to acknowledge my colleague, Dr. Prayong Udomvarapant and my students, Phanprapa Polhan and Prapaporn Nongnual for their assistance.
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