Journal of Food Engineering 106 (2011) 298–305

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Journal of Food Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Effects of vacuum frying on structural changes of bananas

Ram Yamsaengsung ⇑, Thaworn Ariyapuchai, Kulchanat Prasertsit
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Effects of oil temperature, frying time, and ripeness on dimensional changes of vacuum fried bananas
Received 21 May 2010 were studied. Banana slices with cross section diameters of 25–30 mm and a thickness of 3.5–4.5 mm
Received in revised form 8 May 2011 were fried at temperatures of 100, 110, and 120 °C and 8 kPa for 20 min to determine which temperature
Accepted 11 May 2011
produced the highest degree of expansion. Using this temperature, the width and thickness of the prod-
Available online 19 May 2011
uct were measured at 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 min to model the dimensional changes as a function of moisture
ratio. Sensory evaluation was conducted using a 7-point hedonic scale test to determine the effect of ripe-
Keywords:
ness on acceptability of the product. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the struc-
Vacuum frying
Modeling
ture of the vacuum fried bananas.
Structure The experimental results under this vacuum pressure revealed that frying temperature of 110 °C on
Expansion bananas at the second day of ripeness yielded the highest volume expansion. Sensory evaluations did
Heywood shape factor not unveil any significant difference (p > 0.05) in acceptability of the products based on ripeness. Results
Banana ripeness from SEM exhibited, as a function of frying time, a dramatic increase in the pore size of the bananas, while
the Heywood shape factor indicated an overall increase in the product volume.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Besides drying and atmospheric frying, a popular technique for
snack food processing is vacuum frying. Due to associated lower
frying temperature, vacuum frying has many advantages compared
to typical deep-fat frying, such as reduced oil absorption, preserva-
tion of natural color and flavor of fresh fruits, as well as loss min-
imization of vitamins and minerals (Garayo and Moreira, 2002;
Yamsaengsung and Rungsee, 2003; Yamsaengsung et al., 2008).
Consequently, a number of researchers have investigated optimum
vacuum frying conditions and quality of snack products in recent
years. These include apples (Shyu and Hwang, 2001), potato chips
(Garayo and Moreira, 2002), and other types of fruits and vegeta-
bles (Da Silva and Moreira, 2008).
During drying and frying processes, heat from ambient media is
convected to the product surface and then conducted to its interior,
increasing its temperature. Moisture evaporates as the product
reaches its boiling-point temperature. This process is generally
considered a Stefan-type heat transfer problem which is character-
ized by the presence of a moving interface that divides two regions
of physical and thermal properties (Farkas et al., 1996a). During
drying and the early stages of frying, there is shrinkage of the prod-
uct due to microstructural stresses induced by migration of free
water from the porous region to the surface of the food material
and hence collapsing of the skin surface (Ratti, 1994; Achanta
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +66 7 428 7291; fax +66 7 455 8833.
E-mail address: ram.y@psu.ac.th (R. Yamsaengsung).
and Okos, 2000; Panyawong and Devahastin, 2007). At the same
time, casehardening may also retard the degree of shrinkage due
to formations of rigid layers in the product perimeter (Nimmol
et al., 2007). Many researchers have investigated the influence of
the initial moisture content of the material and various drying pro-
cesses on the shrinkage of food products (Ratti, 1994; Maskan,
2001; Kraisheh et al., 2004; Panyawong and Devahastin, 2007;
Nimmol et al., 2007; Sawasdisevi et al., 2009). Mostly, shrinkage
of the product is reported as the change as a function of the mois-
ture content of the material. While many quantify shrinkage in
terms of the change in volume at any instant to its original volume
(V/V0), drying causes changes in the shape of the product as well as
the volume. Therefore, the change in volume alone does not
adequately represent the overall deformation of the product
(Panyawong and Devahastin, 2007). Porous media has uneven pore
sizes, so when moisture is removed from these pores, the material
shrinks non-uniformly, resulting in an uneven product surface and
irregular thickness and diameter. Ratti (1994) proposed shrinkage
to be a function of moisture content, geometry of the product and
the drying conditions imposed. Various drying conditions such as
low pressure superheated steam drying (LPSSD) and vacuum dry-
ing result in different degrees of shrinkage (Panyawong and
Devahastin, 2007).
However, unlike drying, frying causes the product to undergo
significant chemical and physical changes (Moreira et al., 1995;
Farkas et al., 1996a,b; Yamsaengsung and Moreira, 2002a,b). For
example, a soft piece of tortilla flour becomes hard and crispy
and a soggy piece of potato slice becomes a dried, crunchy potato

0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2011.05.016
 R. Yamsaengsung et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 106 (2011) 298–305
chip. While a product is being fried, many physical changes take
place, such as hardening, shrinkage, and puffing. The puffing phe-
nomenon can be described as followed. As the crust region is being
formed in the latter stages of frying, diffusion of air and water va-
por from the product interior becomes limited due to caseharden-
ing and closing of the pores at the product surface. At the same
period, pressure buildups from gaseous expansion inside the visco-
elastic material create insurmountable internal stresses, causing
the material to expand in axial direction. The increase in the pore
size and the porosity of the final product created by this expansion
is directly related to crispness and acceptability of the fried snack
foods. For example, potato chips and tortilla chips have very por-
ous and crispy structures after undergoing the frying process.
While previous researchers investigated the effects of vacuum
frying on final product characteristics such as hardness and crisp-
ness, none have investigated dimensional changes in terms of vol-
umetric expansion of the product during the vacuum frying
process. Therefore, this research was aimed to investigate various
factors that may influence expansion of the fried materials, such
as starch content and frying conditions. Prediction of such changes
as a function of moisture content and temperature during vacuum
frying would be useful in predicting the final product quality for
snack food manufacturers worldwide.
Baik and Mittal (2005) studied the effects of temperature and
moisture content on the thickness of tofu during deep fat frying
at 147, 160, and 172 °C. The researchers developed a model based
on convective heat and mass transfer that yielded good results for
changes in temperature, moisture content, and shrinkage of the
product.
Mayor and Sereno (2004) also investigated shrinkage and
dimensional changes of dried foods and concluded that these phys-
ical changes imposed a significant effect on the product quality. In
addition, they also used a set of empirical models from previous
researchers to describe the dimensional changes of food products,
including apples, carrots, potatoes, and garlic.
Panyawong and Devahastin (2007) described shrinkage of food
products using Heywood shape factor. They dried carrots that have
been diced into cubes using low-pressure superheated steam dry-
ing (LPSSD) and vacuum drying. From their study, the researchers
concluded that the Heywood shape factor corresponded reasonably
well with deformation kinetics of the carrot cube as observed visu-
ally. If the value of the Heywood shape factor remains near its initial
value, the change in shape of the material can be considered uni-
form; however, a value much lower than its initial value indicates
that there is more shrinkage in the overall volume of the material
compared to shrinkage in the equivalent diameter of the material.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Vacuum Frying Equipment
Fig. 1 depicts the experimental setup consisting of a vacuum
fryer, a condenser, a liquid ring vacuum pump (Model ET32030,
Nash, Trumbull, CT), and a centrifuge. The vacuum fryer was con-
structed from stainless steel with a diameter of 400 mm, a height
of 300 mm, and a wall thickness of 6 mm. The stainless steel lid
of the fryer had a thickness of 8 mm. The condenser and the centri-
fuge were fabricated and assembled by the Department of Chemi-
cal Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Thailand. The
condenser consisted of a 9425 mm long stainless steel tube with an
internal diameter of 19.0 mm coiled inside a stainless steel con-
tainer circulated with cooling water. The vacuum pump was pur-
chased from Kinetics Engineering Co. (Thailand). After frying, the
products were centrifuged for 5 min at 450 rpm to remove excess
surface oil and to minimize oil absorption.
299
2.2. Methods
Gros Michel banana (Musa sapientum L.), or ‘kluauyhomtong’ in
Thai, was used as the tested material in this study. A commercial
peel color scale (ChiquitaÒ, Brand, Inc.) was employed to assess
ripeness of the bananas and to ensure homogeneous samples for
each test. Ripe bananas with a color index of 6 (completely yellow
peel and tip) were peeled and cut into 3.5–4.5 mm slices. The cross
section diameter of the slices ranged from 25 to 30 mm. The bana-
nas were fried at 100, 110, and 120 °C and 8.0 kPa for 20 min. Each
batch consisted of 600–700 g of the products and was deep-fried in
13.7 L of soybean oil. The soybean oil was replaced after 10 batches
of frying to keep the oil fresh although previous research by Oph-
ithakorn and Yamsaengsung (2003) found that cooking oil could be
used to vacuum fry up to 30 batches of fish tofu (each batch con-
taining approx. 500 g of product) without exceeding the free-fatty
acids (FFA), peroxide value (PV), and the Thiobarbaturic Acid (TBA)
limits. The thickness, average diameter, and moisture content of
the bananas were measured at 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 min of frying.
After each frying time interval, the samples were discarded and
new samples were used for each set of experiments. An average va-
lue of the thickness and diameter were obtained from a set of 10
random samples using a Vernier Caliper (0.05 mm precision). The
percent shrinkage and percent expansion are described by Eqs.
(1) and (2):
 
D0  D
%shrinkage ¼  100 ð1Þ
D0
 
L  L0
%expansion ¼  100 ð2Þ
L0
where D and D0 are respectively the end-of-each-test and the origi-
nal diameters (mm); and L and L0 are respectively the end-of-each-
test and the original thicknesses (mm).
The following equations by Panyawong and Devahastin (2007)
were used in this study.
V
ks ¼ 3
ð3Þ
da
where ks is the Heywood shape factor, V is the volume of the sample
(m3) at the end of each test, da is the equivalent projected area
diameter, and
 2  
V X X
¼a þb ¼c ð4Þ
V0 X0 X0
where V is the volume of the sample (m3) at the end of each test, V0
is the original volume of the sample (m3), X is the moisture content
(dry basis), and a, b, c are the empirical coefficients.
If the value of the Heywood shape factor remains near its initial
value, the change in shape of the material can be considered uni-
form; however, a value much lower than its initial value will indi-
cate that there is more shrinkage in the overall volume of the
material compared to shrinkage in the equivalent diameter of the
material. The moisture content at each time interval was obtained
by drying the sample in a vacuum oven (Model VOS-300VD, EYELA,
Tokyo) at 70 °C and 4.0 kPa for 24 h (AOAC, 1990).
2.3. Texture analysis
Textural properties of the bananas were analyzed using a Tex-
ture Analyzer (Model TA-XT2i, Stable Micro Systems™ Co., Eng-
land). The sample was placed on a hollow planar base (Bourne
et al., 1978). For fresh samples, a 2 mm spherical probe was set
to travel at a speed of 2 mm/s and a traveling distance of 10 mm.
For fried samples, a 1=4 in. (approx. 6 mm) diameter probe was used
300 R. Yamsaengsung et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 106 (2011) 298–305
Fig. 1. Schematic of the vacuum frying operation (Yamsaengsung and Rungsee, 2003).
at a speed of 1 mm/s and a traveling distance of 4 mm or until the
sample cracked. The maximum compression force from the force–
deformation curve of each sample was considered as an indication
of hardness. A total of ten samples were used for each test run.
Data were evaluated using the Texture Expert Software (SMS
Ltd., Version 1.19, Stable Micro Systems™ Co., England).
2.4. Structural analysis
An SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope, JEOL Model JSM 5800 LV,
Tokyo, Japan) was used to observe changes in the pore size and the
pore size distribution within the product during vacuum frying.
The applied voltage was 10 kV and the magnification was 100.
The ImageJ 1.42 Software (National Institutes of Health) was used
to determine the number of pore counts along with the average pore
size for a particular SEM image. The minimum and maximum pore
sizes were also determined along with the standard deviations.
2.5. Effect of ripeness (sugar and starch content)
Effect of ripeness, or the amount of sugar content, on the degree
of shrinkage and expansion was also studied to determine if there
was an optimum sugar content level (which correlates to the
amount of starch content) that is necessary for the maximum
expansion of the product. High degree of expansion may be related
to the crispness of the product. Samples were allowed to ripen for 1,
2, 3, and 4 days at room temperature of 26 ± 2 °C and RH of
45 ± 10%. Day 2 was used as the reference ripeness when merchants
market their bananas. This is the time when the peel and the stem
of the banana bunch were completely yellow (ChiquitaÒ peel color
index of 6). Day 1 corresponds to the color index of 5 (mostly yellow
with green tip), while Day 4 corresponds to peel color level of 7
(overripe with dark spots on peel). Fresh samples were submitted
to the Agro-Industry Development Center for Export (ADCET, Prince
of Songkla University, Thailand) to obtain total carbohydrate (prox-
imate analysis) and total sugar content (Lane and Eynon). Total car-
bohydrate (percent) was calculated by subtracting the percentage
of moisture content, fat, protein, and ash from 100. The total sugar
content was determined in terms of % sucrose of the original sample
and was calibrated using a glucose standard curve. The starch con-
tent was obtained by subtracting the total amount of carbohydrate
by the amount of total sugar content.
2.6. Sensory evaluation
To evaluate the acceptability of the product, a hedonic scale test
for likeness was used (Peryam and Girardot, 1952; Peryam and
Pilgrim, 1957; Meilgarrd et al., 1999). Since hedonic scales can be
considered as interval scales, they can be statistically analyzed
using ANOVA (analysis of variance). Even though some researchers
have argued that the hedonic scales should be best considered as
ordinal scales (Jones et al., 1955; Stroh, 1998), Peryam and Girardot
(1952) and Peryam et al. (1960) suggested that parametric analysis
was a viable approach on practical grounds (Nicolas et al., 2010). A
taste panel consisting of 30 random students and staffs from the
campus of the Prince of Songkla University (Thailand) was used.
Since Thai people are brought up to display modest emotions in
public, words such as ‘like extremely’ and ‘dislike extremely’ are
often avoided and seldom used. The 7-point hedonic scale test,
rather than the 9-point hedonic scale test, was used to reduce
the difficulty in differentiating of terms ‘like very much’ (a ‘7’
score) and ‘like extremely’ (a ‘9’ score) by this particular group of
Thai participants. Both 7-point scale and 9-point scale are widely
used, and in many instances, a 9-point scale test may be more
appropriate (especially for a pre-trained panel). The definition of
each score for the 7-point hedonic scale test was ‘1’ = ‘dislike very
much’, ‘2’ = ‘dislike moderately’, ‘3’ = ‘dislike slightly’, ‘4’ = ‘neither
like nor dislike’, ‘5’ = ‘like slightly’, ‘6’ = ‘like moderately’, and
‘7’ = ‘like very much’. The parameters tested were color, texture,
taste, crispness, and overall likeness.
2.7. Statistical analysis
All experiments were performed in duplicate and the mean val-
ues with standard deviations were reported. The experimental data
were analyzed using ANOVA. Duncan’s multiple range test was
used to establish multiple comparisons of the mean values; mean
values were considered at 95% confidence level (p = 0.05). A statis-
tical program SPSS (Version 12) was used to perform all statistical
calculations.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Shrinkage and expansion
Table 1 presents the experimental results for shrinkage and
expansion as a function of frying time for bananas slices fried at
110 °C under 8 kPa up to 20 min and Fig. 2 plots the results as a
function of frying time. Even though the total frying time for a
product can take as short as 90 s for potato chips and as long as
20 min for fried pork meat (Sosa-Morales et al., 2006), these pro-
cesses take place at 160–190 °C, while the vacuum frying temper-
ature is from 100 to 120 °C. Therefore, the frying conditions, the
 R. Yamsaengsung et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 106 (2011) 298–305 301

Table 1
Dimensional changes as a function of frying time and moisture ratio for T = 110 °C and p = 8 kPa.

Time % Shrinkage % Expansion X/X0 V/V0 L/L0

a b d b
0 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 1.000 ± 0.000 1.000 ± 0.000 1.000 ± 0.000b
5 10.15 ± 1.49c 20.98 ± 2.14a 0.278 ± 0.022c 0.636 ± 0.038a 0.790 ± 0.021a
10 2.98 ± 2.53b 1. 92 ± 9.11b 0.047 ± 0.012b 0.922 ± 0.134b 0.980 ± 0.091b
15 1.80 ± 1.25b 12.80 ± 6.92c 0.023 ± 0.015a 1.088 ± 0.094c 1.128 ± 0.069c
20 1.32 ± 2.91b 20.50 ± 9.24d 0.019 ± 0.008a 1.173 ± 0.159c 1.205 ± 0.092d

Values in the same column with different superscripts mean that the values are significantly different (p < 0.05).

thickness of the product, the property of the foodstuffs, and the de-
sired final characteristics of the product all directly influence the
total frying time of the product. In this case, frying was carried
out for 20 min until the product banana chips were completely
crispy (no soft, mushy texture). Additional frying time resulted in
undesirable dark colorations of the product.
From Table 1, for banana slices fried at 110 °C, there is a signif-
icant shrinkage in the product diameter during the first 5 min of
frying, indicating a rapid water loss. The moisture content in the
product decreased dramatically from 74% (w.b.) to 44% (w.b.). This
results correlates with a typical drying process in which water is
removed from the porous structure and the cell walls collapse un-
der compressive stress (Demirel and Turhan, 2003; Kraisheh et al.,
2004; Panyawong and Devahastin, 2007; Nimmol et al., 2007).
However, after approx. 5 min of frying, the degree of shrinkage de-
creased. Nimmol et al. (2007) suggested that the effect of casehar-
dening (rigid layer) at the product perimeter may retard the degree
of shrinkage. In addition, once a crust region began to form at the
product surface and its perimeter, the product may have expanded
in the axial and radial direction as gaseous vapor expanded, caus-
ing a pressure buildup. Similar results can be seen for the thickness
expansion of the product. The thickness of the banana chips de-
creases by nearly 20% after 5 min of frying. Once the crust had been
formed and gas pressure buildup occurred inside the product, the
product expanded by as much as 20% at the end of the frying pro-
cess. Yamsaengsung and Moreira (2002b) observed similar effects
of puffing due to pressure buildup inside the product for super-
heated steam drying of tortilla chips.
Moreover, from Fig. 2, a frying temperature of 110 °C produced
the highest degree of expansion. Since there was no significant dif-
ference in the degree of expansion between 110 and 120 °C, higher
frying temperature would not be necessary for increasing the
expansion or the crispness of the product. At the same time, lower
frying temperature would also reduce the energy cost of the frying
process, as well as minimizing nutritional loss from higher temper-
ature treatment.
3.2. Model fitting
The empirical models for Mayor and Sereno (2004) and Panya-
wong and Devahastin (2007) were used to fit the results for the
vacuum frying of bananas. Changes in thickness (L) and volume
(V) can be described by a second order equation using ratios L/L0
and V/V 0 versus moisture content ratio, X/X0. Even though previous
results for plantain bananas slices dried at 40 °C (Johnson et al.,
1998) and whole bananas dried at 50 and 70 °C (Queiroz and Ne-
bra, 2001) indicated a linear shrinkage in the diameter of the prod-
uct, Demirel and Turhan (2003) observed a second order
relationship between diameter shrinkage and volume shrinkage
for the air-drying of Cavendish bananas at 40 and 70 °C. They con-
cluded that the degree of shrinkage depended on specific drying
condition. Results for this study are shown in Table 2. While the
second order model fitted well (R2 of 0.8964 and 0.8406 for L/L0
and V/V0, respectively), the Heywood shape factor model gave an
even better representation of the changes in deformation as a func-
tion of time (R2 of 0.9881). From Fig. 3, there is a slight decrease in
the Heywood shape factor during the first 10 min of frying – indi-
cating an overall volume decrease, followed by a striking increase
in the Heywood shape factor to 0.15 after 20 min of frying – repre-
senting the product expansion. Even though the value of the
Heywood shape factor was low compared to previous work
(Panyawong and Devahastin, 2007), there was still a significant in-
crease in the Heywood shape factor from 0.112 (at t = 0 min.) to
0.153 (at t = 20 min.) or a 35.8% increase. In the previous work by
Panyawong and Devahastin (2007), the samples were cut into
cubes, which meant that both the numerator and the denominator
equaled 1.0 before drying. In this work, the samples were cut into
thin discs, so the numerator term (V) was small compared to the
denominator term (d3). Still, the changes in the values of the Hey-
wood shape factor reflected actual deformation of the structure in
both axial and radial directions. The models fitted above only apply
to vacuum frying of bananas at 110 °C and does not hold true for
other frying conditions. Similar procedures may be conducted to
obtain a correlation between water content and deformation of
the product.
During drying, the product does not undergo a uniform change
in dimensions nor volume; therefore, the Heywood shape factor
was developed to account for this irregularity. Porous media has
uneven size pores, so when water is removed from these pores,
the material shrinks non-uniformly, resulting in uneven product

Table 2
Empirical models used and their coefficients for vacuum fried bananas at T = 110 °C
and p = 8 kPa.

Equation⁄ k1 k2 k3 R2
2
L/L0 = k1  k2(X/X0) + k3 (X/X0) 1.1616 1.8584 1.6977 0.8406
V/V0 = k1  k2(X/X0) + k3 (X/X0)2 1.1377 2.5208 2.3841 0.8964
ks = k1  k2 t + k3 t2 0.1132 0.0036 0.0003 0.9881
Fig. 2. Percent thickness expansion and hardness of vacuum fried banana slices at
⁄
100, 110, and 120 °C and 8.0 kPa after 20 min of frying. Values in the same data Modified from Mayor and Sereno (2004) and Panyawong and Devahastin (2007).
series with different superscripts mean that the values are significantly different L = thickness (mm), V = volume (m3), X = water content (wet basis), t = time (min),
(p < 0.05). and ki = coefficients, ks = Heywood shape factor.
302 R. Yamsaengsung et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 106 (2011) 298–305
Fig. 3. The Heywood shape factor for vacuum fried banana slices at 110 °C and
8.0 kPa as a function of time.
surface, thickness, and diameter. Both ratios of L/L0 and V/V 0 make
reference to the original thickness (L0) and the original volume (V0)
while the Heywood shape factor, in contrast, makes reference to its
volume at time t versus its projected equivalent diameter at the
same time t. Hence, the change in dimension as a function of time
for this particular product corresponds better to the equation using
the Heywood shape factor.
3.3. Textural changes: hardness of the product
Fig. 4 depicts the changes in the hardness of the product as a
function of frying time (decreasing moisture content). As can be
seen, the hardness of the product decreased substantially from
6.14 ± 0.85 to 1.29 ± 0.23 N during the first 10 min of frying and in-
creased significantly as the product changed from a rubbery, soggy
material to a hard and crispy product after 20 min of frying
(12.17 ± 2.29 N). During the first 10 min of frying, there was a rapid
movement of water from within the product toward the product
surface. This water mobility caused the product to become rubbery
and soggy. At the same time, as the starch granules within the prod-
uct were exposed to heat, water, and shear stress, they begin to
gelatinize, giving structure and a more solid texture to the product.
However, after this 10 min of frying, there were still some water in-
side the product, as indicated in Table 1 (X/X0 = 0.047 ± 0.012 or
about 12% w.b.). As a result, even after cooling, the glass transition
temperature (Tg) of the product remained lower than the room tem-
Fig. 4. Hardness of vacuum fried banana slices at 110 °C and 8.0 kPa as a function of
frying time.
perature (25 °C) and product remained in a rubbery state. However,
after 15 min of frying, the lowered moisture content inside the
product (X/X0 = 0.023 ± 0.015 or about 6.0% w.b.) helped to increase
the Tg above the room temperature, allowing the product to be in a
glassy state and become harder as indicated in Fig. 4. Boudhrioua
et al. (2002) also observed an increase in hardness (Fp, maximum
force applied until perforation) as a function of drying time for
air-drying at 40, 60 and 80 °C. From Table 3, the effect of tempera-
ture on the hardness of the product was not significant (p > 0.05) as
the hardness of the final product at 100, 110, and 120 °C were
10.93 ± 1.28, 12.17 ± 2.29, and 11.27 ± 1.82 N, respectively. In addi-
tion, Nimmol et al. (2007) also did not find any significant effect of
drying temperatures (70, 80, and 90 °C) using low-pressure super-
heated steam drying (LPSSD), low-pressure superheated steam and
far-infrared radiation (LPSSD-FIR), and far-infrared radiation under
vacuum (VACUUM-FIR) drying on the hardness of dried banana
slices (3 mm thick and 30 mm in diameter). The maximum forces
required to break the products for the above processes ranged from
16.39 to 24.09 N which were much higher than that found for vac-
uum frying. Hence, it can be inferred that hardness and crispness of
the product are also process dependent. Since samples from the
previous research had slightly different geometry compared to this
research (3.5–4.5 mm thick and 25–30 mm in diameter), a separate
investigation involving these techniques must be made to posi-
tively identify significant differences in the hardness of the
samples.
3.4. Effect of ripeness on physical and textural changes of the product
As banana ripens, the amount of starch decreases as it is hydro-
lyzed into small sugar molecules of sucrose and maltose (Bou-
dhrioua et al., 2002). The effect of total sugar content on thickness
expansion and diameter shrinkage (based on the ripeness of the
product) is shown in Table 3. From Table 3, the highest degree of
thickness expansion of 20.54 ± 7.24% occurred for products from
Day 2. This may indicate the optimum value of starch to sugar con-
tent required to produce the highest degree of puffing. Yet, if the
product becomes too ripened (may contain some bruises and be-
come mushy), the extent of starch gelatinization and crust forma-
tion during the initial stages of frying may be slow, causing lower
pressure buildups during the frying process. In addition, Day 3 and
Day 4 products also had more shrinkage compared to those of Day
2. This result correlated with previous studies of having higher
shrinkage with slower drying rate and slower crust formation of
the product (Nimmol et al., 2007).
Moreover, with Day 1 representing the least ripened bananas
and containing the lowest sugar to starch ratio of 2.90 ± 0.20, its
hardness value of 16.51 ± 1.40 N was significantly higher than
those of other days of ripeness. At the same time, it showed less
expansion than Day 2 products, indicating a more compact and
harder structure as opposed to a crispier, porous structure. This ef-
fect can be observed from the SEM pictures. In general, this result
corresponded to that of Boudhrioua et al. (2002) who also found
that bananas ripened for up to 16 days has a much lower peak
force (Fp) or hardness compared to freshly ripened bananas
(2 days). From Table 3, even though the % total sugar for Days 2,
3 and 4 products were slightly higher than Day 1 products, these
values were not significantly different from each other. Even
though the bananas were all taken from a local banana distributor
at the same time with the same extent of ripeness (green tip), there
may still have been variations in the chemical compositions of ba-
nanas purchased. As a result, the banana samples from Day 3 actu-
ally had higher sugar content than those from Day 4. Nonetheless,
although no direct correlation could be obtained from this result, a
general conclusion could be made that factors such as sugar to
 R. Yamsaengsung et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 106 (2011) 298–305 303

Table 3
Effect of days of ripeness on the percent shrinkage, percent expansion, total sugar content and hardness of vacuum fried bananas fried at T = 110 °C and p = 8 kPa.

Day % Shrinkage % Expansion % Carbohydrate % Total sugar Sugar to starch ratio Hardness (N)
a ab b a a
1 3.91 ± 3.63 13.04 ± 7.95 26.44 ± 0.30 19.75 ± 0.51 2.95 ± 0.20 16.51 ± 1.40d
2 2.88 ± 3.73a 20.54 ± 7.24b 24.18 ± 1.23a 21.70 ± 0.63b 8.75 ± 2.33c 13.36 ± 1.31c
3 1.25 ± 3.33a 9.64 ± 11.98ab 25.16 ± 0.41a 20.18 ± 1.54ab 4.05 ± 1.69b 9.94 ± 1.04a
4 2.81 ± 2.02a 5.61 ± 7.64a 26.06 ± 0.85b 22.04 ± 0.42b 5.48 ± 0.42b 11.79 ± 1.05b

Values in the same column with different superscripts mean that the values are significantly different (p < 0.05).

Fig. 5. SEM images of vacuum fried banana slices as a function of frying time at 110 °C and 8.0 kPa (100).

starch content can influence the degree of expansion and crispiness structure (smaller and less pores) product has a slightly lower
of the product. hardness value than those with large pores.

3.5. Structural changes 3.6. Sensory evaluation

In Figs. 5 and 6, SEM images were taken to study the internal
structure of the banana slices. Fig. 5 presents the change in the
structure of the vacuum fried product as a function of time
(T = 110 °C). After 5 min of frying, the pores within the product be-
came more compressed and distorted. Previous researchers (Ratti,
1994; Achanta and Okos, 2000; Panyawong and Devahastin, 2007)
have contributed this observation to the removal of free water
from the cellular structure and the microstructural stresses devel-
oped inside the product. However, as frying time increased, there
was a gradual increase in the size of pores within the product. This
strongly supports the gas vapor expansion inside the product, lead-
ing to thickness expansion and puffing. From Table 4 the average
pore diameter increased significantly from 37.84 ± 20.08 lm after
10 min of frying to 84.92 ± 70.16 lm after 15 min of frying. Finally,
in Fig. 6 and Table 4, the effects of ripeness on the structure of the
fried bananas were compared. Results showed that there were no
significant differences in the average pore diameter for vacuum
frying at different temperatures. Moreover, from Table 4, Day 1
products had the highest hardness value because it had the fewest
number of pores (less porous than the others), while Day 3 and Day
4 had the lowest hardness values because it had very small, com-
pacted pores. Nimmol et al. (2007) also observed that a dense
Table 5 shows the result of the sensory evaluation performed
for vacuum fried bananas at 110 °C under 8 kPa for different days
of ripeness. From the results, Day 2 products scored the highest
for taste (5.9 ± 0.6), crispness (6.0 ± 0.8), and overall impression
(6.0 ± 0.7). However, from statistical analysis, there were no signif-
icant difference (p > 0.05) in the scores obtained for color, texture,
taste, crispness, and overall impression. Since all products were
fried under the same conditions and for the same duration of time
(20 min.), the sensory panel did not observe any significant differ-
ence (p > 0.05) in the color of the product. This result indicated that
fresh bananas can be stored for up to 4 days after reaching a color
index of 5 without showing any significant difference in the
acceptability of the products by this particular group of consumers.
In addition, from Table 3, Day 2 products have a lower hardness va-
lue than Day 3 and Day 4 products, while it has the highest degree
of expansion. These two factors agree with the sensory evaluation
of Day 2 products of being the crispiest. The harder the final prod-
uct, the more it is associated to being stiff and brittle (Boudhrioua
et al., 2002), rather than crispy. Still, a conclusion cannot be made
based on that the sensory evaluation that Day 2 product was the
most preferred. It is clear that once the bananas have ripened
(Day 1), consumers’ preference for the vacuum fried products leans
304 R. Yamsaengsung et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 106 (2011) 298–305

Fig. 6. SEM images of vacuum fried banana slices at 110 °C and 8.0 kPa as a function of ripeness (30).

Table 4 more toward ‘like slightly’ to ‘like moderately’ as opposed to ‘nei-

Number of pores and average diameter for vacuum fried bananas at various ther like nor dislike’ or ‘dislike slightly’. Investigations using bana-
conditions. nas more ripened than those in this study may provide a better
Samples Number of pores Diameter of pores conclusion on the effect of sugar to starch ratio on the final product
characteristics and acceptability.
Average (lm) Min (lm) Max (lm)
Effect of frying time*
Fresh Bananas 348 33.84 ± 17.06a 19.54 148.46 4. Conclusions
5 min. 405 32.14 ± 14.36a 19.54 129.09
10 min. 275 37.84 ± 20.08a 19.54 181.01 In this study, dimensional changes of vacuum fried bananas
15 min. 53 84.92 ± 70.16b 19.90 312.84 were modeled using empirical equations and the Heywood shape
20 min. 57 73.53 ± 61.69b 19.90 260.78
factor. The thickness and volume ratio of the fried bananas fol-
25 min. 72 62.64 ± 61.33b 19.54 307.27
lowed a second order model while the Heywood shape factor of
Effect of Temperature**
the product initially decreased then increased substantially indi-
100 °C* 493 58.47 ± 47.72b 21.72 378.21
110 °C* 347 79.77 ± 106.58b 21.72 809.91 cating significant volume expansion. SEM images clearly verify
120 °C* 384 58.48 ± 68.25b 21.72 666.26 the increase in the pore size of the products due to gas vapor
Effect of Ripeness*** expansion during the frying process. Products ripened for 2 days
Day 1 465 61.57 ± 59.35b 21.72 464.90 and fried at 110 °C under 8 kPa pressures produced the highest de-
Day 2 430 76.70 ± 84.61b 21.72 549.22 gree of expansion, but sensory evaluations showed that there was
Day 3 615 65.73 ± 56.28b 21.72 431.23
no significant difference in the overall acceptability of the product
Day 4 460 69.36 ± 76.60b 21.72 549.94
based on the number of ripened days.
Day = day of ripeness, Min = minimum diameter; Max = maximum diameter. Values
in the same column with different superscripts mean that the values are signifi-
Acknowledgement
cantly different (p < 0.05).
*
p = 8 kPa, T = 110 °C.
**
p = 8 kPa, t = 20 min. This research was conducted through the auspicious grant of
***
p = 8 kPa, T = 110 °C, t = 20 min. the Graduate School Research Fund from the Prince of Songkla
University.
Table 5
Sensory evaluation based on bananas fried at 110 °C and 8 kPa at different days of
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