Effects of frying oil composition on potato chip stability

Abstract Potato chips were fried in six canola (low‐erucic acid rape‐seed) oils under pilot‐plant process settings that represented commercial conditions. Oil samples included an unmodified canola oil and oils with fatty acid compositions modified by mutation breeding or hydrogenation. Chips were fried for a 2‐d, 18‐h cycle for each oil. Chips and oil were sampled periodically for sensory, gas‐chromatographic volatiles and chemical analyses. Unmodified canola oil produced chips with lower flavor stability and oxidative stability than the other oils. The hydrogenated oil imparted a typical hydrogenation flavor to the chips that slightly affected overall quality. the modified canola oil (IMC 129) with the highest oleic acid level (78%) had the lowest content of total polar compounds and the lowest total volatile compounds at most of the storage times; however, the sensory quality of the potato chip was only fair. The potato chip with the best flavor stability was fried in a modified/blended oil (IMC 01‐4.5/129) with 68% oleic acid, 20% linoleic acid and 3% linolenic acid.