Comparing the effect of soy protein isolate coating with sodium and calcium alginate polysaccharide coatings on the oil absorption of eggplant slices during frying

In recent years, the demand for fried products with lower oil content has increased. Therefore, in this study, the effect of different hydrocolloid coatings including sodium alginate (0.50 and 1.00%), calcium alginate (0.50 and 1.00%), and soy protein isolate (4.00 and 5.00%) on oil absorption and quality properties of eggplant slices during different frying times [0, 90, 180, 270, and 360 seconds] were evaluated. The results showed that the samples pretreated with hydrocolloids had lower moisture loss and oil absorption than that of the control sample. In this regard, among the treatments, calcium alginate (1.00%, with a moisture content of 16.66% based on dry weight and the oil absorption of 0.11 g/g food) and soy protein isolate (5.00%, with the moisture content of 33.66% based on dry weight and the of oil absorption of 0.26 g/g food) had the highest and lowest function, respectively. The moisture content of the fried samples decreased with the frying time increase from 90 to 270 s. Meanwhile, the frying efficiency of calcium alginate coated samples, in all four examined times, was higher than the other treatments, which showed the highest value in 90 s (93.12%). The lowest efficiency was observed in the control sample at 360 s (49.51%). The L* values in the samples coated with soy protein isolate were lower than those of the other samples, which could be due to the increase in Millard reaction. Coating the eggplant samples with calcium and sodium alginate resulted in good sensory parameters for 90 s. Overall, the results of this study showed that the use of calcium alginate coating (1%) can lead to the production of low-fat fried eggplant without adversely affecting the sensory and qualitative properties of the product.