FAT ABSORPTION KINETICS AND SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS OF FRIED BATTER COATED SYSTEMS

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Batter coated foods are widely consumed in North America although there are concerns about high fat diets. It is important to develop the knowledge required for objective production of batter coated products with lower fat contents. Review of literature showed that there is very limited information available on how the core and batter coat layers interact during frying leading to fat absorption. Further, changes in the surface characteristics of the batter coating could be used to evaluate changes in batters during deep-fat frying. The goals of the proposed research project include to characterize fat and moisture transfer interactions between the core layer and batter coating in a model product during frying; study microstructural changes and fat uptake in batters formulated using different flours and ingredients; examine the influence of batter formulations and pre-heating on spatial chemical distributions at different depth profiles in a batter systems; and assess the relationship between fat absorption, surface roughness of batter layer and the different ingredients used in the batter formulation. A new cell device which allows production of reproducible batter coating with better control on the size and thickness of the layer will be used in the study. Meat analog gel model will be used as the core product under the batter coating. The batter layer will be heated in such ways to isolate heating and moisture loss in order to evaluate the separate roles of preheating and initial moisture reduction on fat absorption. Microstructural changes will be assessed by measuring porosity and pore size distributions using pycnometry and porosimetry techniques. The confocal scanning laser microscope (CSLM) and FTIR microspectroscopy techniques will be used separately to visualize spatial fat, starch and protein networks in fried products. Surface roughness will be measured using fractal analysis of surface edge images. The proposed research will develop new knowledge on microstructures and fat absorption patterns in bread coated products during deep-fat frying. It will be vital for optimization of batter formulation for reduced fat absorption in breaded fried foods. Highly qualified personnel (HQP) will be trained on the project.