Effects of infrared blanching and dehydrating pretreatment on oil content of fried potato chips

This study investigated the effects of blanching and dehydrating using infrared (IR) radiation on the oil content of fried potato chips. The quality characteristics such as color and texture of IR-treated potato chips were also investigated. Following the blanching, the potato slices were subjected to IR-dehydrating with a series of duration times prior to deep-fat frying. It was observed that the complete inactivation of polyphenol oxidase enzyme could be finished in 180 s of IR-blanching. The sample with a longer dehydrating time was detected to contain the lower moisture content, which corresponded to a shorter frying time during frying and the lower oil content of the final product. It was demonstrated that the total oil content of IR-treated samples reduced 13.79% at least compared to the conventional method. The b* values for IR-treated potato chips generated faster during frying, which showed the significant changes (p < .05) compared to water-treated samples. In addition, the sensory evaluation revealed that the consumers would more prefer the sample with 120 s of IR-treated chips which showed a desirable taste. Practical applications In this study, we would like to consider some topics about infrared blanching and dehydrating pretreatment on oil content of fried potato chips. Often, it is precisely that are particularly useful in the actual production. IR-blanching was able to inactivate the polyphenol oxidase enzyme of potato slice completely. The initial moisture content of slices was demonstrated to play an important role in the quality of chips. Besides, IR pretreatments of potato slices also reduced the process time of deep-fat frying. The goal of this study is to give suggestions for produce potato chips with lower calorie and oil content.