Figures (6)  Tables (2)

    • Figure 1. 

      Effects of PEF and blanching pretreatment on the digestibility of air-fried French fries. Values within the same column marked with distinct letters differ significantly (p < 0.05).

    • Figure 2. 

      Effects of PEF and blanching pretreatment on the microstructure of the fresh potato strips and air-fried French fries. (a–e) Fresh potato strips after pretreatment: (a) control, (b) blanching, (c) 0.5 kV/cm, (d) 0.75 kV/cm, (e) 1.0 kV/cm. (A–E) Air-fried French fries after the air-frying process: (A) control, (B) blanching, (C) 0.5 kV/cm, (D) 0.75 kV/cm, (E) 1.0 kV/cm. The images of a–e and A–E were taken at 500x and 270x magnification, respectively.

    • Figure 3. 

      Effects of PEF and blanching pretreatment on the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the air-fried French fries (a) and on the FTIR in the 4,000–400 cm-1 range of the air-fried French fries (b).

    • Figure 4. 

      Effects of PEF and blanching pretreatment on the water distribution of the potato strips and air-fried French fries. (a) Samples after pretreatment; (b) pretreated samples after air-frying.

    • Figure 5. 

      Effects of PEF and blanching pretreatment on the oil content of the air-fried French fries. Values within the same column marked with distinct letters differ significantly (p < 0.05).

    • Figure 6. 

      Effects of PEF and blanching pretreatment on the TGA of the air-fried French fries.

    • Methods Hardness (g) Springiness (mm) Chewiness (g) Cohesiveness Xc (%) R1,047/1,022
      Control 4979.87 ± 812.03ab 0.48 ± 0.03c 659.20 ± 74.92c 0.285 ± 0.00c 22.03 0.84
      Blanching 3804.61 ± 296.02bc 0.39 ± 0.04d 305.33 ± 77.57c 0.246 ± 0.00c 10.25 0.98
      0.5 kV/cm 3232.34 ± 629.81bc 0.68 ± 0.07a 1053.81 ± 279.83b 0.140 ± 0.04b 17.04 1.05
      0.75 kV/cm 4895.38 ± 728.83ab 0.67 ± 0.03a 655.64 ± 139.86c 0.142 ± 0.00c 14.58 1.07
      1.0 kV/cm 5026.26 ± 386.43a 0.57 ± 0.03b 343.53 ± 41.93a 0.122 ± 0.42a 14.88 0.95
      Xc: the relative crystallinity of the sample; R1047/1022 represents the short-range ordered structure. Different lowercase letters (a, b, c) within the same column indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) among treatments.

      Table 1. 

      Effects of PEF and blanching pretreatment on the texture, crystallinity, and short-range molecular order of air-fried French fries.

    • Methods L* a* b* ΔE Samples
      Control 67.64 ±
      4.05a      		 −0.70 ±
      0.21b      		 23.00 ±
      2.96a      		 /
      Blanching 66.50 ±
      1.08a      		 −0.03 ±
      0.24a      		 18.71 ±
      1.49b      		 4.49 ±
      3.34a
      0.5 kV/cm 58.38 ±
      0.80b      		 −1.78 ±
      0.22c      		 12.02 ±
      2.10c      		 14.40 ±
      3.81c
      0.75 kV/cm 61.84 ±
      0.65b      		 −1.82 ±
      0.12c      		 7.17 ±
      0.42d      		 16.90 ±
      3.13d
      1.0 kV/cm 58.85 ±
      0.76b      		 −1.81 ±
      0.11c      		 13.47 ±
      0.46c      		 13.01 ±
      3.55b
      Different lowercase letters (a, b, c) within the same column indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) among treatments.

      Table 2. 

      Effects of PEF and blanching pretreatment on the color parameters of air-fried French fries.