Impacts of different blanching pretreatments on the quality of dried potato chips and fried potato crisps undergoing heat pump drying

Abstract Hot water blanching (WB) and steam blanching (SB) have been noted to improve the quality of potato chips. In this work, the possibility of steam blanching assisted with ultrasound treatment (SUB) to enhance the quality of dried potato chips and fried potato crisps was investigated. Compared to WB and SB groups, dried potato chips of SUB groups showed lower shrinkage ratio (78.46%), higher rehydration capability (3.93:1), and lower moisture content (0.08 g/g). Meanwhile, fried potato crisps of SUB groups displayed lower hardness (1965.70 g) and oil content (12.0%). The low reducing sugar content (0.42%) and free amino acid content (6.10 mg/g) in SUB dried potato slices could explain for the higher L * value, lower a * and Δ E values of SUB fried potato crisps. Additionally, sensory evaluation results confirmed above obtained consequences. Overall, SUB could improve the quality of fried potato crisps further in comparison with WB and SB.