The purpose of this study was to evaluate frying oil quality with different assessment methods during vacuum frying of carrot slices. In six consecutive days, palm oil, lard, and soybean oil were fried under vacuum at 105°C for 20 min each hour in an 8-h shift. Peroxide value, acid value, carbonyl value, total polar components, dielectric constant (Food Oil Sensor reading), viscosity, and fatty acid composition were used to evaluate the quality of these oils. Results showed that palm oil and lard possess greater thermal stability than soybean oil. The decrease in C 18:2 /C 16:0 ratio was greater for soybean oil than the other two oils. Of the assessment methods used, peroxide value, carbonyl value, total polar components, and dielectric constant all showed good correlation with frying time and between each other. Viscosity was suitable to assess vacuum-fried lard and soybean oil, but not palm oil. The measurement of dielectric constant, on the other hand, appeared to be unsuitable to assess vacuum-fried soybean oil. JAOCS 75, 1393-1398 (1998).
KEY WORDS:Carrot chips, dielectric constant, frying oil assessment, food oil sensor, lard, oxidative stability, palm oil, peroxide value, soybean oil, total polar components, vacuum frying.Deep-fat frying of food is usually performed at high temperature (about 180°C) under atmospheric pressure. Surface darkening may occur even before the food is fully cooked. Some of the fat and oil decomposition products have also been implicated in producing adverse health effects when fried oils degraded with continued use (1,2). Pressure frying is another way of deep-fat frying; food is fried in a closed system under pressure. This increases the boiling points of frying oil and moisture in food, and thus increases the rate of heat transfer to the interior of food and shortens the frying time. Food fried under pressure will usually retain more moisture and flavor. Pressure frying is conducted at high temperature and pressure, it therefore might have adverse effects on the quality of frying oils (3).In vacuum-frying operations, food is heated under reduced pressure in a closed system that can lower the boiling points of frying oil and moisture in food. Water in the fried food can be rapidly removed when the oil temperature reaches the boiling point of water. Because food is heated at lower temperature and oxygen content during vacuum frying (4), the natural color and flavor can be preserved. Vacuum frying also has less adverse effects on oil quality (5).Vegetables and fruits are generally dehydrated by freeze drying, a process that can maintain their original flavor and color. This operation, however, is energy and time consuming. Therefore, production of dehydrated vegetables and fruits with high quality in a short time is an important issue for food processors. Vacuum frying of fruits and vegetables slices may be a good alternative to process dehydrated fruits and vegetables.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the stabilities of different frying oils while vacuum-frying carrot sli...