Improving the quality and reducing oil absorption of fried potato chips by ultrasound pretreatment

Abstract The present work applied the ultrasound pretreatment (UPT) to reduce oil absorption and improve quality features (texture) of potato chips. The oil content, oil fractions, cell viability, cell morphology, oil distribution, color changes, and texture of potato chips were discussed. UPT (360 W, 60 min) significantly decreased penetrated surface oil content of potato chips, causing the 27.66% decrease in total oil content. The changes in cell viability induced by ultrasound resulted in variations of oil distribution at a macro level. Higher ultrasound power destroyed more cells on the edge, which further resulting in more oil absorption on the edge of potato chips. Disrupting cell structure changed oil distribution at a micro level. When the ultrasound power was increased to 600 W, the oil showed more uneven distribution because of the destroyed cellular structure. Texture testing pointed out that UPT decreased the hardness of potato chips.