Palm olein and partially hydrogenated soybean oil used in industrial pre‐frying of chicken nuggets: Chemical and sensory characterization

The chemical characterization of partially hydrogenated soybean oil (SO) and palm olein (PO) used in the industrial process of pre‐frying chicken nuggets (CN) was investigated. Additionally, CN pre‐fried with different oils (CNSO and CNPO) and different oil use times (1, 3, and 6 days) were evaluated by fatty acids composition, centesimal composition, and discriminative sensory methods. The acidity value, peroxide value, and induction time (oxidative stability) demonstrated that PO exhibited the highest thermal stability until the sixth day of oil use. The characteristics of the pre‐frying oils significantly affected the fatty acids composition and moisture and lipid contents of CN. A significant increase in trans fatty acids was observed with the use of SO. In both sensory analyses (triangle and ranking tests), trained assessors detected differences between CNSO and CNPO, corroborating with the results of chemical determinations. PO was more efficient at ensuring the stability of CN after industrial pre‐frying. Practical applications Considering that this study was carried out inside a commercial meat industry on Brazil—using real conditions that represent relevant practical importance and statistical validity—the results contributed to the industry, which replaced the partially hydrogenated soybean oil by palm olein on chicken nuggets pre‐frying. Moreover these results are relevant to other food industry that are interested in increasing the frying meat products lipid stability, allowing suitable sensory quality and nutritional aspects improvement.