Using hydrocolloids to decrease oil absorption in banana chips

The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of hydrocolloids (alginate, CMC and pectin) on the oil absorption in fried banana chips. The control banana chips (no hydrocolloid treatment) had oil content as high as 40 g/100 g sample, whereas the sample blanched in 0.5 g CaCl(2)/100 ml water and following with immersion in 1 g alginate/100 ml water exhibited a small decrease of oil uptake (p <= 0.05) to 38 g/100 g sample. The others which treated with 0.5 9 CaCl(2)/100 ml and 1 g pectin/100 ml water, and with 0.25 g CaCl(2)/100 ml water and 1 g CMC/100 ml water absorbed much less oil (p <= 0.05), approximately 23 g/100 g sample. Besides, pectin-treated chips had higher sensory scores in all attributed than CMC-treated sample. These resulted showed that pectin was the most effective hydrocolloid for low fat fried banana chip production. Scanning electron microscope photographs indicted that coating banana chips with pectin was effective in protecting the cellular structure of the banana tissue from damage during deep-fat frying. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.