Since oil absorption seems to be fundamentally a surface
related phenomena it is very important to observe the surface
topography of potato chips and follow changes occurring
during frying. Fig. 10A shows 3D reconstructions of
the control and blanched (without and with petroleum
ether) potato chips using serial images obtained by CLSM
in its reflective mode. Details of the cell structure such as
size heterogeneity can be observed with high resolution.
Surface cells are bounded by cut cell walls leaving available
space for oil deposition after frying. When the control and
blanched chips were washed with petroleum ether, the
resulting 3D images (Fig. 10A2 and B2) showed much less
brightness indicating a considerable elimination of the oil
from the surface of potato chips after frying.