OIL UPTAKE IN DEEP-FAT FRYING - REVIEW

Fried products contribute to a significant amount of the overall oil c onsumed in the western world's diet. Fat intake has been identified as one of the most important factors contributing to several health risk s. The desire to consume more nutritious and healthier foods has creat ed significant pressure on the industry to reduce fat of fried product s. Yet, lipids have still not been matched in their unique functionali ty and universal appeal. To address these risks, concentrated research efforts have focused on reducing fat absorption during the frying pro cess. The objective oi this review is to summarise the data available, and to focus on the mechanisms and factors affecting oil uptake durin g deep-fat frying. A holistic approach integrating the complexity of t he process and its mechanisms is adopted, highlighting some of the pos sible factors that play a significant role in oil absorption. Some of the multiplicity interrelationships among three domains: oil, product and process are discussed. The main conclusions highlight the fact tha t oil uptake mechanism is an extremely complex process, still not comp letely understood. Additional studies focusing on the microstructure c hanges occurring in the product during deep-fat frying are recommended in order to further elucidate the various mechanisms affecting oil up take, and to provide the means and the tools required to control the v arious processes that govern the phenomena.