Development of Healthy Low-Fat Snacks: Understanding the Mechanisms of Quality Changes During Atmospheric and Vacuum Frying

Excess consumption of fat, a main component in fried food, is a key dietary contributor to coronary heart disease and perhaps some types of cancer. Although consumers are interested in healthier snacks, they are not willing to sacrifice organoleptic properties. Vacuum frying might be an alternative for the production of nutritious, healthy, palatable, and novel snacks. The objective of this review is to discuss the effect of atmospheric deep-fat frying on the main microstructural components and quality parameters of fried food, to understand how quality can be improved by lowering the operating pressure and, therefore, the processing temperature.