Market leaders in temperature controlled
microscopy, Linkam Scientific Instruments, have been chosen by Pontificia
Universidad Católica de Chile to supply a THMS350V stage to understand the
frying of starch in oil and water.
At the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, a research team headed by
Pedro Bouchon PhD in the Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering Department are
using a Linkam THMS350V stage to examine atmospheric and vacuum frying
miniaturization of starch granules in oil and water. The chemical and
structural aspects of vacuum frying are still not very well understood and so
further experimentation is required to understand the process. The goal of the
group is to understand the role of different ingredients when they are
processed under different conditions, studying the effect on micro and
macro-structural properties, functionality, and the impact that these processed
ingredients have on nutrition. The aim is to design and develop, based on
scientific knowledge, new food matrices that fit new consumer demands for
healthier, low fat snack products that also taste as good as the traditional
ones.
The group are comparing the effect of vacuum and atmospheric frying using
real-time hot-vacuum-stage microscopy. Isolated starch granules are examined
for micro-structural changes during vacuum and heating in both oil and water.
The Linkam THMS350V is mounted on an Olympus BX-61 light microscope and the
samples are tested at different heating rates with different vacuum levels.
Samples are totally immersed before frying, and real-time image capture is used
to examine structural changes.
Micro-structural changes are indicated by swelling and gelatinization of the
potato starch granules during heating at 15°C/min at atmospheric pressure.
Granules start to swell at 64°C. As the temperature increases the granules
start to lose their shape and at 100°C the granules begin to dehydrate due to
water evaporation. The loss of birefringence of the granules indicates the
onset of the gelatinization process.
Pablo Cortes, a member of Pedro Bouchon's group, described how the Linkam stage
has "allowed us to understand the development of the microstructure of
potato starch granules in different conditions in real time. We have studied the
gelatinization process of isolated potato starch granules heated in excess
water and embedded in a gluten and water matrix. This micro-structural approach
has given us information of paramount importance to understand the frying and
vacuum frying process."
Heating-vacuum microscopy is an essential technique to begin to understand the
complex process of vacuum frying which may lead to innovative ways to prepare
our food.
Visit Linkam at
http://www.linkam.co.uk/
and learn about the broad range of applications in the field of temperature
controlled microscopy.
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