Characterisation of potato crisp effective porosity using micro-CT

Renshaw, Ryan C.; Robinson, John P.; Dimitrakis, Georgios; Bows, John R.; Kingman, Samuel W.

Abstract

Background

The effective porosity is an important quantitative parameter for food products that has a significant effect on taste and quality. It is challenging to quantify the apparent porosity of fried potato crisps as they have a thin irregularly shaped cross section containing oil and water. This study uses a novel micro-CT technique to determine the solid volume fraction and hence the effective porosity of three types of potato crisps: standard continuously fried crisps, microwaved crisps, and continuously fried ‘kettle’ crisps.

Results

It was found that continuously fried kettle crisps had the lowest effective porosity at 0.54, providing the desired crunchy taste and lower oil contents. Crisps produced using a microwave process designed to mimic the dehydration process of standard continuous fried crisps had an effective porosity of 0.65, which was very similar to the effective porosity of 0.63 for standard continuously fried crisps. The results were supported by the findings of a forced preference consumer test.

Conclusion

The effective porosity affects the product taste and is therefore a critical parameter. This study shows that micro-CT analysis can be used to characterise the change in effective porosity of a thin irregularly shaped food product, caused by a change of cooking procedure.

Citation

Renshaw, R. C., Robinson, J. P., Dimitrakis, G., Bows, J. R., & Kingman, S. W. (2016). Characterisation of potato crisp effective porosity using micro-CT. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 96(13), 4440-4448. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.7655

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 27, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Mar 3, 2016
• Publication Date: Aug 12, 2016
• Deposit Date: Nov 4, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 4, 2016
• Journal: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
• Print ISSN: 0022-5142
• Electronic ISSN: 1097-0010
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 96
• Issue: 13
• Pages: 4440-4448
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.7655
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/805784
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.7655
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Renshaw, R. C., Robinson, J. P., Dimitrakis, G. A., Bows, J. R. and Kingman, S. W. (2016), Characterisation of potato crisp effective porosity using micro-CT. J. Sci. Food Agric., 96: 4440–4448, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.7655. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
• Contract Date: Nov 4, 2016