Abstract:

Jerusalem artichoke chips were puffed by microwave oven after different pre-treatments. Effects of chip thickness, pre-treatment style, water content, water equilibrium time, microwave power and time, and solidification method were investigated to improve the puffing efficiency of products. Results indicated that jerusalem artichoke chip thickness of 6 mm, suitable drying temperature and time of 90 ℃ and 3.5 h, water content of 20% after pre-drying fresh chips by hot air, water equilibrium for 4 h and then puffing for 150 s could result in jerusalem artichoke chips with high quality such as crispness, color and morphology and the maximum expansion ratio of 2.18. The jerusalem artichoke chips were treated with dextrin, NaCl and CaCl2 at various concentrations. Effects of NaCl, dextrin and CaCl2 on microwave puffing were also investigated. Results showed that crispness, expansion rate and color of jerusalem artichoke chips were improved after the treatment at optimal combination conditions such as 1.5% NaCl, 1% dextrin and 0.4% CaCl2. These investigations will provided a reference for the research and development of chips and will accelerate the development of jerusalem artichoke chips.

Key words: microwave, puffing, jerusalem artichoke, crisp chips