Kemin Industries, a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services, will present a poster session during the 2022 American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) Meeting in Atlanta on May 1–4, 2022. 

Steve Kelleher, research fellow, Kemin Food Technologies – North America, will present the session, “Solubilized Proteins as a Fat Block in Production”, which highlights recent research exploring methods to reduce the amount of fat uptake while retaining moisture in deep-fat-fried protein products.

“Previous studies that looked at ways to reduce the fat uptake of fried foods during frying mainly focused on hydrocolloid coatings,” said Kelleher. “Our research evaluated processed protein products in a production scale scenario. We evaluated how our Proteus fat block technology can be used to significantly reduce fat uptake and maintain moisture.” 

“Solubilized Proteins as a Fat Block in Production”, the poster Kelleher will present at the AOCS meeting, shows the findings of the Kemin Food Technologies – North America team, including:

• Proteus fat block achieved an up to 33.6% reduction in fat content with an increase in desirable moisture when applied to fully cooked chicken tenders. 
• Boneless chicken wings treated with Proteus fat block were found to have significantly less fat, reduced by 27.5%.
• Increases in moisture content of 9.6% and 8.2% for fully cooked chicken tenders and boneless wings, respectively, also point to juicier finished products. 
• Yield was also evaluated using two techniques: piece count and weight post-frying.
  • Using the more conservative control afternoon samples versus protein-added samples, scientists calculated a 7.3% yield gain in piece count.  
  • Reconstituted after-fry yields, which better address the retail end-user, showed a 9.8% yield increase.
• Using solubilized muscle proteins as a topical spray in a full production scale system suggests a method to possibly lower production costs and improve nutrition, through lower fat and increased moisture retention. 

“These are significant improvements compared to previous benchtop results,” said Kelleher. “Our team is excited to share these findings with AOCS meeting attendees and the industry. We look forward to a future where consumers can enjoy some of the deep-fried foods they love, but with less fat.”

Click here to learn more about Kemin Food Technologies – North America’s portfolio of value-added plant extracts and antioxidants that can help keep fat and oil-based products fresher for longer. 

Source: Kemin Food Technologies – North America