Effect of Salt Addition on Mass Transfer, Colour and Texture Characterictics of Shallow Fried Potato Strips

Shallow frying is widely used as one of the cooking processes because of its simplicity and ability to gives better taste of foods by adding spices, herbs and salt. Despite its widespread use, the mass transfer and product properties of shallow frying have not been studied systematically, especially after the addition of salt. This study aims to investigate the effect of adding salt to potato strips, prior to shallow frying on the mass transfer (moisture and oil contents) and physical properties (colour and texture) of products. The potato strips were cut into 9 x 9 x 50 mm and were divided into salted (1% w/w) and unsalted (as control), and then were shallow fried at 150°C and 180°C for 35 minutes. The moisture and oil contents were analysed every 5 minutes, while colour and texture were determined at the end of shallow frying (i.e. when moisture content reached ~0.82 kg H2O/kg dry matter). Salted fried potato at 180°C resulted in a significantly shorter frying time of 18 minutes, compared to unsalted fried potato, which took 21 minutes. Meanwhile, at 150°C, the frying time reduced to 25 minutes for the salted product from 33 minutes under unsalted product. The oil content, colour and texture of final products were not significantly different under both treatments. Therefore, the effect of adding salt to potato strips does not influence the oil content, colour and texture of the shallow fried products, but reduces frying times by up to 24%, thereby improving energy efficiency.