Influence of hydrocolloids and flours on acoustic‐mechanical and microstructural properties of battered deep‐fat fried meat

Abstract

SummaryThis study investigated the influence of hydrocolloid–flour mixtures on textural, structural, oil absorption and optical characteristics of batter‐coated fried meat. The batter coatings were formulated with corn, wheat and rice flours along with different hydrocolloids (methylcellulose, carboxyl methylcellulose, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, gum arabic). Textural and structural properties were assessed by acoustic‐mechanical and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Results showed that the addition of hydrocolloids improved crispiness and reduced oil content in fried products. Comparative performances of the hydrocolloids in improving crispiness were in decreasing order as gum arabic > locust bean > xanthan gum > carboxyl methylcellulose > methylcellulose. Textural properties of the hydrocolloids were interwoven with the flour type, where corn flour demonstrating better crispiness than wheat and rice flours. The crispiness of hydrocolloids added batter increased up to seven times than the control samples. The hydrocolloids were found to significantly influence (P ≤ 0.05) the appearance of battered meat formulated with corn and wheat flours. Hydrocolloids showed prominent effect on wheat flour‐based batter in terms of average pore area, whereas highest impact on corn flour regarding the number of pores formed.