Elucidation of the reduced oil uptake of frying batters made from wheat and brown rice flour blends in terms of rheology and surface roughness

Abstract BACKGROUND Negative impressions toward fried foods are prevalent due to their high oil absorption and caloric values. A great deal of effort has been thus made to reduce the oil uptake of fried foods. In this study, the effect of wheat and brown rice flour blends on the oil uptake of frying batters was elucidated in terms of rheology and surface roughness. RESULTS The blends with higher proportions of brown rice flour had higher values of pasting parameters and also exhibited a more elastic nature. When a food matrix was deep‐fat‐fried with frying batters made from wheat and brown rice flour blends, the oil uptake was significantly reduced by 28% compared to wheat flour batter. Based on imaging analysis, the surface properties of the fried crusts were quantitatively measured, demonstrating that the degree of surface roughness distinctly became lower with increasing levels of brown rice flour. Furthermore, the surface roughness parameters ( R a and R q ) had a strong relationship with the reduced oil uptake. Also, a high proportion of brown rice flour in the blends produced fried samples with a firmer and crispy texture. CONCLUSIONS A reduced oil uptake of batter‐coated fried foods was distinctly observed with increasing levels of brown rice flour in the blends and well correlated with the degree of surface roughness ( R 2 > 0.85). © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.