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Abstract Background Deep-fat frying is a common cooking method where fat or oil is used as the heat transfer medium, in direct contact with the food at a temperature above the boiling point of water. During the deep fat frying method, oil not only serves as a heating medium but also absorbs into food, increasing the total fat content. As a result, consumption of deep-fat fried foods has been associated with coronary heart diseases, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Selection of an appropriate food coating before frying may act as a barrier to moisture loss, which is important commercially, and also reduce fat uptake during frying. Scope and approach This paper succinctly reviews different protein sources for edible coatings and compare them with muscle food proteins which were used in deep-fat fried foods. Key findings and conclusions Protein-based coatings have been explored as potential coating materials in fat-uptake reduction. Comparatively, proteins are able to form films with better mechanical and barrier properties than polysaccharides. Application of muscle food proteins (myofibrillar proteins) as coatings, which are rich in these proteins, is novel and could be product-friendly for deep-fried muscle foods. Highlights • Consumption of deep-fat fried foods has been associated with health issue. • Various edible coatings have been used to reduce fat-uptake in deep-fat fried foods. • Muscle protein-based coating may provide a better reduction in fat uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the use of whey protein, as an additional coating, in combination with basic, well-described predust, batter, and breading ingredients, for fat-uptake reduction in fried chicken. Chicken breasts were cut into strips (1 × 5 × 10 cm) and coated with wheat flour (WF) as a predust, dipped in batter, coated with WF as a breading, then dipped in 10% denatured whey protein isolate (DWPI) aqueous solution (wet basis). A WF-batter-WF treatment with no DWPI solution dip was included as a control. Coated chicken strips were deep-fried at 160 °C for 5 min. A Soxhlet-type extraction was performed to determine the fat content of the meat fraction of fried samples, the coating fraction of fried samples, raw chicken, and raw coating ingredients. The WF-batter-WF-10% DWPI solution had significantly lower fat uptake than the WF-batter-WF control, by 30.67% (dry basis). Practical Application: This article describes applied research involving fat reduction in coated deep-fried chicken. The methods used in this article were intended to achieve maximized fat reduction while maintaining a simple procedure applicable to actual food processing lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]