Impact of batter solid-water ratio and frying time on meat-analog based coated fried food

In response to recent demand of animal-meat alternatives, plant derived composites based meat-analog is at the center of attention. This study investigated the impact of batters’ solid-to-water ratio (SWR) and frying time (FT) on the evolution of physicochemical, thermal and structural properties of meat-analog (MA) based batter coated fried products. Wheat and rice flour-based batter systems of different SWR (1:1.1, 1:1.3, 1:1.5) was used to coat a MA model, and were deep-fried at 180 °C for 2, 4 and 6 min in canola oil. Results revealed that SWR of batter coatings negatively correlated with batter-pickup (BP), water-retention-ability (WRA), cooking yield (CY), moisture and structural properties (thickness, densities) of the fried foods crust. Batters' SWR positively correlated with frying loss (FL), fat, textural attributes (hardness, brittleness, crispiness) and glass-transition-temperature (Tg) of the fried foods crust. The FL, crust thickness, fat content, Tg, and textural attributes positively correlated with frying time (FT); whereas CY, moisture content and crust densities were negatively correlated with FT. The Tg of MA-based batter coated fried foods crust were ranged between −23.51 °C and −20.16 °C. Higher SWR and FT diminishes post-fry mass redistribution, textural evolution, and color changes; whereas lower SWR and FT retained the juiciness of food-core substrate. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that both the SWR and FT impacted surface microstructural properties (roughness, micro-opening) of MA-based batter coated fried products. Surface openings (SO) were negatively correlated with the moisture content, while positively correlated with the fat content of MA-based batter coated fried foods crust.