Causal factors concerning the texture of French fries manufactured at industrial scale

Abstract

In this paper, we review the physical/chemical phenomena, contributing to the final texture of French fries, as occurs in the whole industrial production chain of frozen par-fried fries. Our discussion is organized following a multiscale hierarchy of these causal factors, where we distinguish the molecular, cellular, microstructural, and product levels. Using the same multiscale framework, we also discuss currently available theoretical knowledge, and experimental methods probing the relevant physical/chemical phenomena. We have identified knowledge gaps, and experimental methods are evaluated in terms of the effort and value of their results. With our overviews, we hope to give promising research directions such to arrive at a multiscale model, encompassing all causal factors relevant to the final texture. This multiscale model is the ultimate tool to evaluate process innovations for effects on final textural quality, which can be balanced against the impacts on sustainability and economics.