Rice flour based batter: Rheological, textural, microstructural, and storage properties

摘要

The major flour used in batter formulation is wheat flour. There is a wheat production deficit in Asia. Also, there is a rapid growth in the Asian-American population which has increased the demand for rice products in the United States. Thus, a logical alternative for wheat flour in a traditional batter formulation is rice flour. A rice flour based-batter (RFBB) for chicken drumstick coating in deep fat frying was developed with rice to corn flour ratio between 50:50, 60:40, and 70:30 (flour weight). Levels of oxidized corn starch and methylcellulose (MC) ranged from 0 to 15% and 0 to 0.3% (db), respectively. Batter characteristics measured included rheological properties, adhesion, and storage stability.;The RFBB flow behavior could be explained by the Herschel-Bulkley model (R2 = 0.82--0.99). Factors affecting RFBB rheological parameters included batter compositions, temperature, and shear rate. Microstructural and textural analyses showed that rice flour, 0.2% xanthan gum, or 0.3% MC alone exhibited poor batter adhesion but RFBB with appropriate level of oxidized corn starch and MC showed good batter adhesion. By comparison, batter pick-up of RFBB was not significantly different from that of WFBB (p < 0.05). All RFBB exhibited lower oil absorption than WFBB. The MC added batter had the lowest amount of oil absorption, whereas WFBB showed an opposite result. Batters formulated with MC and oxidized corn starch contributed to better adhesion at day 0. There were no significant differences in batter adhesion among all treatments after frozen storage at -40°C for 90 d. Microstructural analysis revealed that freezing caused structural deterioration of all batters. The total plate counts of either immediately fried or frozen fried chicken stored for 90 d were less than 1 log CFU/g.;Rice flour when combined with appropriate level of other functional ingredients showed potential as an alternative to wheat flour for batter formulas. Product coated with RFBB would be healthier than traditional wheat product due to lower fat absorption.