The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of hydrocolloids (alginate, CMC and pectin) on
the oil absorption in fried banana chips. The control banana chips (no hydrocolloid treatment) had oil
content as high as 40 g/100 g sample, whereas the sample blanched in 0.5 g CaCl2/100 ml water and
following with immersion in 1 g alginate/100 ml water exhibited a small decrease of oil uptake (p 0.05)
to 38 g/100 g sample. The others which treated with 0.5 g CaCl2/100 ml and 1 g pectin/100 ml water, and
with 0.25 g CaCl2/100 ml water and 1 g CMC/100 ml water absorbed much less oil (p 0.05), approximately
23 g/100 g sample. Besides, pectin-treated chips had higher sensory scores in all attributed than
CMC-treated sample. These resulted showed that pectin was the most effective hydrocolloid for low fat
fried banana chip production. Scanning electron microscope photographs indicted that coating banana
chips with pectin was effective in protecting the cellular structure of the banana tissue from damage
during deep-fat frying.