DEEP-FAT FRYING OF PLANTAIN (MUSA-PARADISIACA L) .1. CHARACTERIZATIONOF CONTROL PARAMETERS

A frying process to make plantain (Musa paradisiaca L.) chips in palm oil was investigated The effects of the main control parameters (initi al temperature of oil in frying bath, processing time and stirring vel ocity) on the response variables (plantain water loss and fat gain, re lative variations in oil temperature, and energy consumption) were stu died. Frying kinetics at the centre point of the experimental design w ere established at 120, 240, 360 and 600 s. The Munsell colour scale w as used to assess the colour of chips for kinetics at the centre point . According to the experimental design validation results, an initial oil bath temperature of 165 degrees C should be used to obtain plantai n chips with a final water content of less than 5 g/100 g of fried pro duct and a fat gain of less than 16 g/100 g of fried product, with a p rocessing time of 200 s, thus allowing minimal energy consumption/kg e vaporated water (En(0)).