EFFECTS OF FRYING OIL COMPOSITION ON POTATO-CHIP STABILITY

Potato chips were fried in six canola (low-erucic acid rapeseed) oils under pilot-plant process settings that represented commercial conditions. Oil samples included an unmodified canola oil and oils with fatty acid compositions modified by mutation breeding or hydrogenation. Chips were fried for a 2-d, 18-h cycle for each oil. Chips and oil were sampled periodically for sensory, gas-chromatographic volatiles and chemical analyses. Unmodified canola oil produced chips with lower flavor stability and oxidative stability than the other oils. The hydrogenated oil imparted a typical hydrogenation flavor to the chips that slightly affected overall quality. The modified canola oil (IMC 129) with the highest oleic acid level (78%) had the lowest content of total polar compounds and the lowest total volatile compounds at most of the storage times; however, the sensory quality of the potato chip was only fair. The potato chip with the best flavor stability was fried in a modified/blended oil (IMC 01-4.5/129) with 68% oleic acid, 20% linoleic acid and 3% linolenic acid.