Deep or air frying? A comparative study with different vegetable oils

A comparative study of deep-frying and air-frying was performed, using two commercial air-frying equipment's and four common frying oils - sunflower, soybean, canola, and olive oils. Fried potatoes were compared in terms of color, moisture, lipid composition and degradation indicators, tocopherols, total ascorbic acid, -carotene, antioxidant activity, acrylamide, and sensory analysis. The results show that fried potatoes obtained by air-frying processes presented an average of 70% less fat, which leads to a reduction of 45kcal per 100g. Most chemical parameters were similar on both frying processes, including acrylamide content, or showed slightly better results with air-frying process, namely ascorbic acid amounts. However, incorporated fat was more damaged in deep-fried potatoes, with a significant increase on both p-anisidine and polar compounds. Despite the less significant differences observed in the two air-frying equipment's tested, lipid oxidation allowed their distinction, particularly p-anisidine that was higher in Airfryer than Actifry, independently of the oil type. All tested oils behaved similarly, and were mainly responsible for potatoes enrichment in tocopherols, phenolics, and -carotene, but lower lipid oxidation was observed with olive oil. From the assessor's perspective, taste and odor qualities were more determinant for acceptability of fried potatoes than color. Practical applications: Air-frying has emerged in recent years as a healthier alternative to deep-frying. The direct comparison of deep-frying and air-frying technologies with different vegetables oils shows that air-frying process presents health benefits for consumers, with less fat ingestion and less fat oxidation, particularly when using olive oil, but also economic and ecological advantages due to reduced amount of oil used and no effluent after frying. A direct comparison of potatoes frying in two air-frying systems using different vegetable oils showed health benefits to the consumers when compared with deep-frying, both by the reduced amount of incorporated fat and lower fat degradation degree.