Effects of food gums and pre-drying on fat content of fabricated fried chips

Deep-frying contributes to the unique taste and texture of fried products. However, they are low in nutritional value. Food industries actively trying to find ways to reduce the fat content while maintaining organoleptic properties of fried foods. In this work, effects of pre-drying and adding food gums on the moisture and fat contents of chips were evaluated. The chips were pre-dried for 60 and 90 min, and gellan gum, guar gum, methylcellulose and xanthan gum were added at the concentration of 0.25, 0.75, 1 and 2 % w/w. The xanthan gum was the most effective gum for fat reduction. The addition of 0.25 % w/w xanthan gum and at 90 min pre-drying reduced the fat content from 20 % (control) to 15 % w/w. The results also indicated that the reduction of moisture content after frying was not affected by the type of gums but the method of pre-drying.