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Fried instant noodles have become a popular instant food in recent years, favored by consumers for their unique flavor and taste. Unfortunately, the oil content of instant noodles is generally high, so the rise of fat-related diseases poses a major health issue. From the perspective of the cost of instant noodle manufacturers and the health of consumers, it is of great significance to reduce the oil content of instant noodles. The aim of this review article is to provide an overview of the main factors, such as raw materials and production processes, affecting oil content in instant noodles in order to suggest specific strategies to reduce the oil content in the end product. From the literature reviewed, adding acetylated potato starch/carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, or preharvest-dropped apple powder in the noodle formulation could be a better choice to reduce oil uptake by 5%-20%. Instant noodles with lower oil content can be produced using novel alternative frying technologies, including microwave and vacuum frying. The proper management of the production processes and the implementation of enhancement strategies may result in a reduction of oil content in the end product., (© 2022 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

A comparative analysis of quality attributes (moisture, fat, color, and relaxation modulus) of French fries was performed between conventional and microwave frying. Experiments were performed in triplicate for both frying operations at temperatures of 177, 185, and 193 °C for frying times of 60, 90, and 120 s. The real-time pressure and temperature profiles at above conditions indicated that during microwave frying, gage pressure had greater magnitudes that lasted longer, and the temperature increased to boiling point of water faster in comparison to conventional frying. Lower magnitude of negative pressure during microwave frying is expected to have caused lower fat content in fries obtained using this method (0.08 g/g solids less at 185 °C and 0.07 g/g solids less at 193 °C) than conventional frying. The lightness parameter (L * ) decreased to a lesser extent in microwave frying than in conventional frying. The stress relaxation function of the French fries were significantly different between the 2 frying operations. Consumer test confirmed that reduced fat uptake during microwave frying did not compromise with desirable quality attributes of French fries. X-ray micro-computed tomography scanning provided complementary understanding about differences in microstructural properties of fries made using microwave and conventional frying., (© 2016 Institute of Food Technologists®.)