EFFECTIVE WATER DIFFUSIVITY IN DEEP-FAT FRIED RESTRUCTURED POTATO PRODUCT

Water diffusivity was determined for a restructured potato product und ergoing deep-fat frying. Pre-fried product gel-strength, expressed by its deformability modulus, varied from 37 to 127 kPa and markedly affe cted the effective diffusion coefficients, ranging from 3.31 to 1.58 x 10(-9) m(2) s(-1), respectively. Pre- and post-fried effective water diffusivity decreased with higher deformability modulus. Frying time r educed the effective water diffusivity only when the initial deformabi lity modulus was higher than 52 and 79 kPa for 1 and 5 min, respective ly. Oil uptake criterion was found to increase with the effective wate r diffusivity for frying durations of 1 and 5 min.