Sample preparation and frying
Carrots were peeled and cut into slices of
60 mm · 30 mm · 2.7 mm by means of a manual peeler
and slicer. The uniformity of thickness of samples was
checked by using a micrometer (Mitutoyo, Japan). They
were dipped into the coating suspension for 5 s and allowed
to drip for 30 s. Then, they were fried at 170 C
in a commercial bench-top deep-fat fryer. Batches of
four battered slices were fried for 2, 3 or 4 min. The fried
carrots were removed from the fryer, drained and allowed
to cool to room temperature. After each frying
batch, the oil was filtered to remove batter debris and
it was changed after 6 h of frying time since preliminary
tests showed that there were no significant differences in
free fatty acid content of oil when it was used for less
than 6 h.