Porosity of Deep Fat Fried Breaded Chicken Meat

Damir Ježek¹*, Mladen Brnčić¹, Suzana Rimac Brnčić¹, Sven Karlović¹, Tomislav Bosiljkov¹, Branko Tripalo¹, Damir Karlović¹, Jura Šipušić² and Drago Pukec<sup>3

1</sup>Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pierottijeva 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
²Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 19, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
³Primus plc, N. Kiepacha 67, HR-48260 Križevci, Croatia

Article history:
Received April 29, 2008
Accepted June 30, 2009

Key words:
porosity, oil absorption, deep fat frying, chicken meat

Summary:
Effects of the addition of rice starch and dietary fibres (pectin and Fibrex) on the porosity of basic frying mixture formulations (corn flour, salt, spices) and oil uptake of coated chicken meat have been evaluated. Porosity of the fried breaded chicken meat was calculated from particle and bulk density. Pore size and particle size distribution were determined using microscopy image analysis and particle density by mercury intrusion porosimeter (MIP). Since there is a wide range of particle diameters, significant differences in pore size distribution were found. Also, pore structure appeared to be affected by oil absorption. Mercury entrapment in pores decreased significantly during 8 min of frying. The obtained results show that porosity of the samples is different for different frying mixture formulations and indicate that there is a difference in the extent of oil uptake for different formulations due to film forming capabilities of dietary fibres (pectin and Fibrex).

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