Comprehensive insights into oil absorption in fried foods: The role of surface characteristics

The mechanisms of oil absorption in fried foods remain unclear due to the complex interactions between food surface properties, oil characteristics, and frying conditions. This review systematically examines oil absorption behavior by analyzing food surface characteristics, oil properties, and their interactions. Key factors influencing oil uptake, including food pretreatment, material composition, and frying parameters, are critically evaluated. The review clarifies how food surface characteristics impact oil absorption pathways through multilevel analyses, ranging from qualitative to quantitative and microscopic to macroscopic perspectives. Based on these insights, some aspects, including optimization of food surface characteristics, regulation of oil properties and improvement of frying techniques, should be considered to reduce oil uptake without compromising the quality of fried foods. Additionally, emerging research directions, such as advanced coating materials, intelligent frying equipment, and multi-scale simulation technologies, are discussed. These findings provide a theoretical foundation and technical guidance for developing healthy and low-fat fried foods.