Osmotic pre-treatment effect on fat intake reduction and eating quality of deep-fried plantain

The relationship between compositional changes during frying and an osmotic dehydration step before frying is described, including and explanation of their effects on eating quality of plantain chips. Three solutions were used to soak plantain slices (glucose, salt (NaCl) and glucose + salt) prior to deep-frying (170 degrees C). The temperature, moisture and fat changes during the frying were monitored, and the quality attributes and physicochemical properties were also determined. The osmotic pre-treatments had significant effects on most parameters of plantain chips. In general, treatments decreased oil intake, moisture content, and total volume and also reduced frying time, while the colour, rancidity, crispiness and sensory evaluation increased after 5 min of frying. However, a negative effect on high temperature induced colour development was observed for some of the treatments. Rancidity induction times were significantly higher for pre-treated samples, which is probably related to lower oil content, shorter frying times and lower water content. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.