Modelling the mass transfer kinetics of battered and breaded fish nuggets during deep-fat frying at different frying temperatures

Abstract

Battered and breaded fish nuggets (BBFNs) were fried at three different temperatures (160, 170, and 180°C) for 30–180 s to study the mass transfer kinetics of moisture loss and fat absorption. The mass transfer mechanism was investigated through an analysis of microstructure, surface oil (SO), and penetrated surface oil (PSO) contents of fried BBFNs. The results showed that Fick’s second law of diffusion and the first-order kinetic model could well describe the kinetics of moisture loss and fat absorption of the crust, respectively. Transfer coefficients of the two mass transports significantly increased with an increase in the frying temperature (P < 0.05). With the increase in the frying temperature, pore size of the crust increased. The PSO content of the crust also increased with elevated frying temperature. These results suggest that frying temperature affects the moisture loss and fat absorption kinetics of the crust by changing its microstructure.