INFORM April 2025

inform April 2025, Vol. 36 (4) • 35

address lipid degradation, new technologies such as ultrasound- and microwave-assisted frying, along with edible coatings, improve heat transfer, reduce oil absorption, and minimize harmful com pounds. These innovations enhance oil stability and food quality, benefiting both industry and public health. A comprehensive review of the mechanism, changes, and effect of deep fat frying on the characteristics of restructured foods Restructured foods are a blend of various ingredients that are dried or fried to obtain a ready-to-eat product. Several frying tech niques have been employed viz., deep fat, microwave, vacuum, air, and spray frying. Deep-fat frying is the most common technique used for products that have improved texture and sensory charac teristics. It facilitates various transformations that include starch gelatinization, protein denaturation, nutrient loss, non-enzymatic browning, lipid oxidation, etc. This physicochemical change alters both the product and the fried oil quality. The frying conditions will also influence the product characteristics and affect the prop erties of the fried product. This review focuses on the mechanisms and transformations during deep fat frying. The properties, namely physical, chemical, sensory, thermal, rheological, and microstruc tural changes of restructured foods were discussed. Thus, a better understanding of mechanisms and properties at optimum frying conditions would yield the desired product quality. Effect of different pre-treatment on acrylamide content, nutrition value, starch digestibility and anthocyanin bioaccessibility of purple sweet potato ( Ipomoea batata ) deep-fried chips Lucas-González, R., at al. , Food Chemistry , 460, 140535, 20204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.140535 Veggie chips have gained popularity in the European mar ket. These are considered healthier than potato chips by consum ers. However, few works evaluate their nutritional and digestibility. The current work aimed to evaluate the effect of four pre-frying treatments (soaking, blanching, pulsed electric field (PEF) and PEF + blanching combination (PEFsingle bondB)) on the chemi cal composition, anthocyanins, acrylamide, and digestive behav ior (starch hydrolysis and anthocyanins bioaccessibility) of purple sweet potato deep-fried chips. In total 15 independent batches were made, three for each studied treatment (also a control without pre treatment was developed). The studied pretreatments impacted on fat and starch content, especially blanching and PEFsingle bondB, S. S., et al. , Food Chemistry , 450, 139393, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.13405

Amylose Content Removal Moisture Reducing Sugar’s Content Asparagine Content

Oil absorption and acrylamide Overall acceptability

which caused an increase in fat absorption and break starch, gener ating maltodextrins. Nineteen anthocyanins were detected, mainly cyanidin and peonidin derivatives, but a drastic loss was observed in blanched, PEF-treated and PEF-B-Treated chips. Acrylamide values ranged from 504.11 to 6350.0- μg/kg, with the highest val ues reported by untreated chips and the lowest by PEF-B-treated chips (p < 0.05). The anthocyanin’s bioaccessibility ranged between 66.57 and 92.88%, with soaked chips that showed the highest values. The effect of cold atmospheric plasma pretreatment on oil absorption, acrylamide content and sensory characteristics of deep-fried potato strips Nateghi, L., et al. , Food Chemistry: X , 21, 101194, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101194 This study investigated the impact of 60 kV Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) pretreatment for varying durations (5, 10, and 15 min) on potato strip characteristics before and after frying, emphasizing oil uptake, acrylamide formation. Potato samples treated with cap showed significantly better physicochemical characteristics. Scanning electron microscopy revealed deforma tion of cell wall due to CAP treatment. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy indicated structural changes, while X-ray diffraction analysis suggested that starch remained amorphous state in CAP pretreated samples. Post-frying, CAP-treated potato strips exhib ited altered oil distribution with reduced absorption, possibly due to microstructural changes. CAP substantially reduced acrylamide formation during frying by degrading asparagine and inactivating amylase. CAP affected strip color, with increased brightness and decreased redness and yellowness after 14 days. Sensory evalua tion showed no significant difference, with prolonged CAP-treated strips receiving higher overall acceptability scores. These find ings highlight CAP as a non-thermal technology to enhance fried potato product quality and safety.