Context:

In the world, the average apple production from 2015 to 2019 amounted 84,722,560 tons. During this period, Colombia contributed an average of 3,523 tons to the total production, with the department of Santander emerging as the highest producer in the country. Notably, 100 % of the apples produced in this region were consumed fresh. It is therefore necessary to explore other transformation alternatives, such as producing snacks via deep frying, with the control of operating such variables as: driving force (∆T ), process time (t) and pressure of the system (P ).

Objective:

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of pressure in the process of obtaining fried apple slices “Malus domestica”.

Methodology:

Apple slices were subjected to osmotic dehydration (sucrose 45 % and citric acid 1 %) at two temperatures (20°C and 40°C) for 240 minutes. Subsequently, they were subjected to deep frying under control of temperature, immersion time and system pressure. For the experimental design, the response variables evaluated were: color change, moisture content, fat content, and sensory analysis.

Results and conclusion :

The optimal conditions found were: ∆T = 72,5°C, t = 662,7 s and P = 36,1 kPa, which also represents a certain similarity regarding the treatment of the bestrated sensory sample.

Funding:

University of Caldas.