Determination of Mass Transfer Parameters During Deep Fat Frying of Rice Crackers

The accuracy of the knowledge of mass transfer parameters (effective moisture diffusivity, mass transfer Biot number and mass transfer coefficient) in the case of frying food, is essential and important for designing, modeling and process optimization. This study is undertaken to develop an approach for determining mass transfer parameters during frying of spherical rice cracker in sunflower oil at 150, 170 and 190°C. These parameters were evaluated from the plots of dimensionless concentration ratios against time of frying. Effective moisture diffusivity, mass transfer Biot number and mass transfer coefficient ranged between 1.24×10−8 to 2.36×10−8 m2/s, 1.96 to 2.34 and 5.51×10−6 to 9.70×10−6 m/s, respectively. Effective moisture diffusivity and mass transfer coefficient were found to increase with an increasing frying temperature, whereas mass transfer Biot number decreased. An Arrhenius-type relationship was found between effective diffusivity coefficient and frying temperature.