Effect of conventional and pressure frying on lipids and fatty acid composition of fried chicken and oil.

Lipid class and fatty acid profile of pressure fried (PF) and conventionally fried (CF) chicken and medium of frying were evaluated. Depending on the frying cycle, neutral lipid (NL) content of PF chicken varied from 75-86% as compared to that of CF (84-90%). Similarly, glycolipid (GL) content varied from 11-21% in PF and from 9-12% in case of CF. Phospholipid (PL) was the least among lipid classes in both the products. The fresh frying medium (oil before frying cycle started), NL, GL and PL were 89, 10 and 0.33%, respectively. After the frying cycles were over, NL content of oil used for CF decreased to 82% and GL content increased from 10 to 17%. There was no significant difference (p ≥ 0.05) between the contents of lipid classes of oil used for PF or CF. Fried chicken and frying medium had higher concentration of linoleic acid and oleic acid irrespective of the frying cycle or frying method. PF chicken had moisture content in the range of 56-58% and total fat was 14% whereas in case of CF chicken it ranged from 49-52% and 18% respectively. TBA and FFA values of CF chicken and oil on repeated frying were higher (p ≤ 0.05) than PF. In comparison to conventional frying, pressure frying resulted in relatively tender and juicier product presumably due to better retention of moisture (p ≤ 0.05) and low oil uptake.