Food Frying

8Digestion and Absorption of Fried Foods

8.1 Introduction

Frying oils and fats are important sources of essential fatty acids, phytosterols, polyphenols, and several other important compounds. Upon ingestion, fat provides more energy than carbohydrates or proteins. Foods and frying fats containing highly unsaturated fatty acids undergo oxidation and produce several compounds with both good and bad characteristics. Bad characteristics include those off‐flavour compounds responsible for the rancidity of foods and fats. Fried foods with off‐flavour are not acceptable to consumers and are thus wasted. The significant issues in the fried food industry are consumer health and likeness. Fried foods that cause any adverse effects are not accepted.

The adverse effects caused by oxidized lipids are a hot topic in modern food science safety research. The formation of several toxic compounds in foods, such as acrylamide, heterocyclic aromatic amines, and furfural, is a cause of concern for both health scientists and consumers. Thus, it is important for consumers to have some basic knowledge of what happens after they ingest fried foods.

8.2 Acceptability of Fried Foods

The acceptability of fried fats and foods depends on numerous factors, including chemical composition, physical and chemical properties, and human perception. Wayler et al. (1982) showed that a moderate degree of unreplaced tooth loss in humans had no significant effect on perceptual estimates of food acceptability, and unilateral ...