Assessing textural changes of breaded deep-fat fried chicken nuggets during post-frying holdings under infrared heat-lamp using acoustic-mechanical techniques

Abstract Texture is a multi-parameter attribute and one of the prime quality attributes of fried products. This study examined the influence of post-frying holdings under a heat lamp on the texture of breaded fried chicken nuggets. Chicken nuggets were deep-fat fried (2, 4, 6, and 8 min) in canola oil at 180 °C. The fried samples were kept under an infrared heat lamp for up to 1 h, and the textural characteristics were compared with samples not exposed to post-frying holdings. Textural characteristics were analysed through mechanical-acoustic approach. The mechanical-acoustic parameters related to crispiness analysed included maximum force (Fmax, N), number of force peaks (NFP), the area under force-deformation curves (AF, N.sec), sound pressure level (SPL, dB), number of sound peaks (AUX) and the area under the amplitude-time plots (AS, dB.sec). The mechanical parameters (Fmax: 19.11–48.96 N; NFP: 5–40; AF: 43–135 N.sec) of chicken nuggets increased with frying time, and these attributes were decreased during post-frying holding. Similarly, acoustic parameters (SPL: 64.75–90.67 dB; AUX: 180–795; AS: 63–98 dB.sec) of chicken nuggets increased with frying time, and these attributes were decreased during post-frying holding. Considering the studied parameters, 6 min of frying was found as optimal frying time. However, the post-frying infrared heat lamp treatment affected the mechanical textural parametres more than the acoustic parameters. Findings from this study will be useful to food industries in optimising textural retention during post-frying heat lamp holdings of fried products.