Enhancing the Frying Performance of High Oleic Sunflower Oil Using Sesame Oil and Rice Bran Oil

Frying operations at both industrial and foodservice levels have traditionally used animal fats, animal fat-vegetable oil blends, palm oil or hydrogenated vegetable oils. Saturated and trans fatty acids present in these oils are, however, considered nutritionally unfavorable because of their elevation of plasma cholesterol levels. High oleic acid sunflower oil (HOSO) can be used as a substitute for these fats/oils in order to produce snack foods with more favorable fatty acid composition. However, this oil has the disadvantages of being more expensive and less stable, albeit substantially more stable than conventional sunflower oil. Frying studies were conducted in a gourmet-type restaurant in Belgium to compare the performance of HOSO blended with a specially manufactured sesame oil (SeO) and rice bran oil (RBO) with that of presently used oils/oil blends. The quality of the produced french fries was used as the end point indicator. The order of the performance of the oils was: HOSO-SeO-RBO > palm olein > partially hydrogenated canola > HOSO > groundnut oil. The frying performance of the HOSO-SeO-RBO was quite satisfactory up to 65 effective frying hours (or 954 frying operations) compared to 35 effective frying hours (or 535 frying operations) for HOSO. It was also found that use of french fries prefried in the blended oil together with oil replenishment extends the performance of the new oil frying. Chemical analyses showed that at the discard point, none of the oils had exceeded the regulatory limits for used restaurant frying oils in many EU countries, i.e. 24% total polar materials.