Potato chips are a predominant snack food found across the world. They are thin slices of potato that have been deeply fried, baked, kettle-cooked, or popped until crunchy. Oil therefore, plays a huge part in the making of potato chips, apart from other ingredients such as salt, flavorings and seasonings.
Deep fat frying is one of the most common methods used worldwide for the preparation and production of food. It is extensively used both at home and on a commercial scale to enhance the organoleptic characteristics of food. In commercial deep fat frying operations, fat is continuously exposed to heat, air, moisture and light for many hours per day, at a temperature of about 120° C. During this process, a number of chemical reactions including oxidation and hydrolysis occur. Use of anti-oxidants during the manufacturing process can minimize the extent of lipid oxidation.
The concept of shelf life is an area of clear contrasts. At the consumer level, there is interest in the convenience of longer shelf life and cutting down of food waste on one hand, while there is demand for natural formulations and fresher products on the other. Shelf life enhancement is, therefore, a balancing act of sorts. There are a number of anti-oxidants available in the market – synthetic ones being the most commonly used. However, recent studies question the safety of using synthetic anti-oxidants, with research clearly pointing to the fact that these can be detrimental to human health. Some of the synthetic anti-oxidants have also been banned in many countries owing to health concerns. This has led to a rapid change in preferences, with consumers increasingly choosing natural products over synthetic ones.
Globally, there is increasing consumer awareness of the detrimental effects of synthetic anti-oxidants. This has fuelled the demand for natural anti-oxidants for shelf life extension.
What are anti-oxidants?
One of the major reasons for the deterioration of food is the auto-oxidation of lipids by which free radicals are produced. Oxidation of lipids is a common, undesirable chemical change which impacts flavor, aroma, texture and nutritional quality.
Anti-oxidants are substances that prolong the shelf life of food by delaying the oxidation process.
Popular anti-oxidants
Kancor – a never-ending journey of perfection
Kancor aims to help people make more informed choices; to use more natural products by making them more user friendly and increasing the efficacy of products, keeping pace with evolving customer needs.
How does natural anti-oxidant, OxiKan® work?
OxiKan® is Kancor’s range of natural anti-oxidant solutions derived from the finest rosemary. These products offer a way to extend shelf life naturally, without resorting to any artificial or synthetic means. Rosemary mainly contains three kinds of anti-oxidant molecules – carnosic acid, carnosol and rosmarinic acid that inhibit the oxidation of other molecules by getting oxidized themselves. This helps in extending the shelf life of the end application by fighting rancidity in oils and fats, and stabilising natural colours.
OxiKan® R Plus – A safe and natural alternative to synthetic anti-oxidants
OxiKan® R Plus is an enriched extract of selective anti-oxidant molecules from rosemary. This variant of OxiKan® has a superior application efficacy. Extensive application studies on OxiKan® Range were conducted on various food matrices.
A study on shelf life enhancement of refined sunflower oil in deep frying conditions using OxiKan® R Plus and TBHQ and its impact on shelf life of chips
Objective: To compare the impact of OxiKan® R Plus and other anti-oxidants in the shelf life of refined sunflower oil subjected to deep frying conditions and its impact on shelf life of chips.
Method: Rancimat Induction Time Analysis
It is a method by which the oxidative stability of oil can be determined. The time period between relatively slow reactions before it speeds up is called the induction time. The longer the induction time, the more stable is the oil. Three batches of frying were conducted, and oils from each batch were taken for Rancimat Analysis. The medium used for analysis is refined sunflower oil (SFO).
Conditions: Air flow - 20 l/hr
Temp - 120° C
DOSAGE
*Enriched extract of selective anti-oxidant molecules from Rosemary, OxiKan® R Plus with 5% CA at a dosage of 0.4% is equivalent to 200 ppm Carnosic acid.
RESULT
Inference
It can be observed that OxiKan® R Plus, Kancor’s unique, enriched extract of selective anti-oxidant molecules from Rosemary, showed better activity than both TBHQ and Oleoresin Rosemary in increasing the shelf life of sunflower oil in deep frying conditions.
RESULT
Impact of frying oil in shelf life of chips
Method:The shelf life of oil used for frying decides the shelf life of chips. Fried potato chips will contain around 35-50% of frying oil in it. This means the stability of oil contributes to the shelf life of the chips. From the Rancimat results we can calculate the shelf life of oil at room temperature and that will be same as the shelf life of chips
Inference
It is evident from the study that chips fried using oil treated with OxiKan® R Plus will have almost double the shelf life when compared to chips fried in oil treated with TBHQ
