Improving Texture Properties of Sliced Potatoes during Thermal Processing by Acetic Acid in Synergy with Calcium Chloride
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Abstract:
In order to solve the problem regarding the loss of crisp texture of potato chips after full thermal processing, the effects of acetic acid and calcium and their synergistic pretreatment on the texture of potato slices after thermal processing were studied in this experiment. Sliced potatoes (SP) pretreated with acetic acid and calcium chloride was considered as a strategy to enhance the textural characteristic of SP after thermal processing. Base on the single factor test, the variation of hardness of SP after thermal processing was used as the response value. In order to acquire optimal formula of pretreatment for SP, the response surface design was used. On the basis of the single factor experiments, taking the acetic acid concentration, calcium chloride concentration and soaking time as the design factors, and the hardness of potato slices after cooking for 10 min as the response value, the response surface method was used to optimize the synergistic action of acetic acid with calcium chloride to improve the hardness of potato slices. Finally, the optimal parameters for improving the hardness of potato slices were determined as follows: acetic acid 5.26 mL/L; calcium chloride 5.28 mg/L; soaking time 11.1 h. In the meantime, the microscopic examinations and X-ray microanalyses of different samples revealed that the cells of the heat-treated potato slices had severe intercellular separation, whilst the cells of potato slices treated with acetic acid in synergy with calcium chloride followed by steaming for 10 min were still tightly connected. The amount of the permeated calcium in the potato slices soaked with both acetic acid and calcium chloride was significantly higher than that for the slices soaked with calcium chloride only. The results further revealed the reason behind the improved hardness of potato slices pretreated with acetic acid and calcium chloride, which also provides a basis for the late-stage processing of flavored instant potato chips.
