Reducing Acrylamide Formation in Fried Potato Crisps by Pre-drying and Vacuum Frying Techniques
Acrylamide has been considered as a potential carcinogen in animal studies and may affect human bodies when consumed in high amounts. The large acrylamide contents are formed when potato crisps are fried at high temperatures. Pre-drying and vacuum frying has been considered as an effective combination to reduce acrylamide formation and improve the qualities of the potato crisps. The effect of moisture content on the acrylamide formation in potato crisps was studied. Sliced potatoes after blanching and drying at 60oC for until the weight is 60% initial weight (on wet basis) were then vacuum fried at 120oC and 150 mbars. There was a significant reduction on the acrylamide content of potato crisps compared with that without the treatments and fried conventionally. There was a 92% acrylamide reduction in the pre-dried potato crisps found. Under the conditions tested, the potato crisps contained less than 50% (dry basis) of the oil content compared to the control samples (obtained under conventional conditions). Their colour and crispiness have been found to improve considerably as well.