Modification of the color in palm olein oil with respect to the frying time and raw material

Abstract

Color is considered a main sensorial parameter in food, since it is the first contact between the consumer and the product. Color can be also used as an analytical control tool to evaluate processes. In the case of snacks, color of frying oil depends on different parameters as the time of frying and the raw material nature. The aim of this work was to study the color changes in palm olein during a frying process (0-120 min) of pellets and chips at 180 °C. Around 80 mL of the oil were removed after each frying step for analysis. The experiments were done in triplicate. Color was measured in a scanning spectrophotometer and the results were converted to CIELab values. The brightness (L) values were kept around 95 throughout the frying process. Minimal changes were observed in the redness (a) parameter. Concerning the yellowness parameter (b), this value significantly increased (P<0.05) along the frying process in both pellets (t = 0: 14.08 ± 0.63; t = 120: 15.305 ± 0.25) and chips (t = 0: 13.55 ± 0.31, t = 120: 14.94 ± 0.3009). Consequently, parameter b could be used as tool of quality control in the snack industry.