Extruded flour improves batter pick-up, coating crispness and aroma profile

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Material Science

Background:

• Fried battered foods are globally popular.
• Optimizing batter quality for fried products is crucial for consumer satisfaction and industry appeal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of replacing native wheat flour with extruded flours at varying percentages (7.5% and 15%) and extrusion severities on the quality attributes of chicken nugget batters.
• To evaluate the effects on microstructure, pick-up, moisture and fat content, texture, color, volatile compounds, and consumer acceptability.

Main Methods:

• Chicken nugget batters were prepared with native wheat flour substituted with extruded flours.
• Batters underwent analysis for microstructure, pick-up, moisture, fat content, texture, color, and volatile compounds.
• Consumer acceptability tests were conducted on the prepared chicken nuggets.

Main Results:

• Extruded flour inclusion improved batter pick-up, with higher percentages and extrusion severities yielding better results.
• Batters with extruded flour showed increased moisture content while fat content remained stable.
• Higher extrusion severity resulted in crisper batters, and volatile analysis indicated reduced lipid oxidation and increased furfuryl alcohol.
• Consumer testing favored batters made with intermediate-severity extruded flour.

Conclusions:

• Extruded flour effectively enhances the quality of deep-fried batters for products like chicken nuggets.
• The use of extruded flours can lead to improved textural properties, reduced rancidity, and desirable sensory attributes.
• Optimizing extrusion severity and flour replacement levels can tailor batter characteristics for superior consumer acceptance.