Effect of hydrocolloid coatings on the heat transfer and oil uptake during frying of potato strips

The effect of the hydrocolloid coatings (gellan gum and guar gum) of a food matrix on the heat transfer during a frying process was investigated and correlated with the oil uptake. While the potato strips coated with the hydrocolloid solutions were fried at 170 °C, the hydrocolloid coatings significantly reduced the heat transfer coefficients as well as oil uptake which became more apparent at higher concentrations. Thus, the oil uptake was found to have a good polynomial correlation (R2 > 0.99) with heat transfer coefficients, suggesting that a rapid heat transfer led to an increase in the oil content of the fried samples.