Multiphase flow, heat and mass transfer modeling during frying of potato: effect of food sample to oil ratio

Abstract Sample to oil ratio (SOR) during frying of food products should be carefully determined because it substantially influences oil absorption. A novel computer simulation to model momentum, heat, and mass transfer was developed to investigate the effect of SOR (1/10, 1/15, and 1/20) on velocity, temperature, moisture, and oil distributions during frying of potato strips. The present study was intended to cover missing aspects in scientific literature dealing with potato frying modeling. In addition, one of the major contributions offered by this work regarded the possibility of major effect of SOR on healthiness of products. An increase in water vapor production at a higher SOR played a significant role in increasing oil velocity. While the SOR did not have a substantial effect on center temperature of potato strips, surface temperature decreased with an increase in SOR. The SOR affected moisture content of the corners of the specimens, whereas it did not significantly affect the center moisture. Simulation of the longitudinal section of potato center showed that oil uptake increased with increasing SOR. The decrease in oil uptake by decreasing SOR was justified by the water vapor production and crust formation. Water vapor acted as a barrier against oil diffusion and had a significant impact on stirring the oil and creating homogeneous temperatures. Overall, this study offered a proper numerical tool to control oil absorption, leading to understanding complex mechanisms during deep-fat frying of foods. It is hoped that the results of this study could head to a further step in developing an optimized deep-fat frying process.