Quality, dehydration behavior, and oil absorption dynamics of vacuum frying chili chips as influenced by osmotic dehydration pretreatment

This study evaluated osmotic dehydration (OD) as a pretreatment for vacuum-fried chili crisps (CC). OD disrupted cell structure and reduced moisture, leading to fewer, larger, and more uniform pores during frying, which minimized oil absorption and facilitated centrifugal degreasing, yielding CC with 1.54 % moisture, 6.67 % oil and 0.05 % soluble protein. In contrast, untreated chili with intact cells and high moisture formed numerous small irregular pores that trapped oil and were hard to remove. OD also improved crispness, color, and soluble solids, shortened oil and water equilibrium time, and enhanced processing efficiency. The Two-term model best fitted moisture changes during CC frying ( R 2 = 0.9991–0.9999), with predicted moisture ratio matching experimental results. These findings demonstrate that OD is an optimal pretreatment for low moisture and minimal oil uptake in VF-processed CC.