High-speed 4D computed tomography for uncovering the dynamics of oil uptake in deep-fried food products

High-speed 4D computed tomography for uncovering the dynamics of oil uptake in deep-fried food products | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article High-speed 4D computed tomography for uncovering the dynamics of oil uptake in deep-fried food products Pieter Verboven, Ujjwal Verma, Isabella Riley, Bratislav Lukic, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4578278/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Mar, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Oil acts as a high-temperature heating medium while also contributing to the organoleptic properties in energy dense deep-fried foods. The amount of oil absorbed is associated with the rapid structural deformation of food during deep-frying, creating pathways for oil to enter the internal microstructure. Here, we describe a 4D imaging system (three spatial dimensions and time) that uses fast synchrotron radiation tomography for in-situ visualization of the highly dynamic deep-frying and post-frying cooling processes. We use dynamic imaging and 3D quantification to show that the continuously evolving connectivity of the heterogeneous porous microstructure in a wheat flour-based dough is altered by the deformations induced during and after deep-frying. The resulting pore network integrity, more than porosity, significantly impacts the rate of oil uptake and its distribution. The findings also suggest that a two-stage deep-frying operation at different temperatures can help reduce oil content while achieving a desired crust. Physical sciences/Engineering/Chemical engineering Physical sciences/Materials science/Techniques and instrumentation/Imaging techniques 4D imaging porous media food microstructure image segmentation machine learning multiphase flow heat and mass transfer Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files ESRFfryingNatCommSupplementary.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Mar, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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