Determination of the diffusion coefficient through oil absorption and moisture loss, such as the porosity of pieces of yam (Dioscorea rotundata) during deep fat frying

Abstract

This study evaluated moisture loss, oil gain and porosity when frying pieces of yam (Dioscorea rotundata). The parallelepiped-shaped samples, approximately 1 × 1 × 4 cm, were subjected to frying temperatures of 145, 165 and 185 °C for 50, 150, 300, 450, or 600 s. Fick's law was used to determine the diffusion coefficient from the experiment data for the varieties 153 traditional Espino and 125 Brazilian Espino. The moisture loss in 153 traditional Espino was greater than in 125 Brazilian Espino. The diffusion coefficient and the activation energy were determined for both varieties, which were higher in the 153 traditional Espino variety. The porosity was expressed as a percentage and was also higher in the 153 traditional Espino variety.

Keywords

• Dioscorea rotundata
• Fick's law
• Diffusion coefficient
• Porosity
• Deep fat frying