GC Analysis Reveals How Pea Starch Cuts Oil

Deep-frying is a popular cooking method used both at home and in food manufacturing, prized for the distinct taste and crunch it gives food. But because fried food tends to be high in fat, eating a lot of it can be bad for people's health, raising the risk of weight gain and heart problems.¹

In response, researchers tested whether treating pea starch with sound waves (ultrasound) could help corn starch-based fried foods soak up less oil and investigated why this might work. The team also used chemical testing to show that foods made this way had lower levels of heptanal, a compound linked to oil breakdown during frying and used various imaging and physical tests to confirm the changes happening at a microscopic level, including how oil was distributed throughout the food. A paper based on this work was published in the journal Food Research International.²

Why Did Researchers Choose Ultrasound-Treated Pea Starch Specifically to Try to Reduce Oil Absorption in Fried Foods?

There are a few different ways to change the natural properties of starch to make it more useful in food products, including physical methods, chemical methods, and methods that use enzymes. Chemical treatments work well but can leave behind unwanted chemical residue. Enzyme-based treatments are gentler but tend to be slower and more expensive. Physical treatments, especially using sound waves (ultrasound), are often the preferred option because they're environmentally friendly, safe, and effective, without leaving any chemical residue behind.^3,4

Pea starch is good at forming a tight, solid gel because it has a lot of a particular starch component (amylose), but on its own, it hasn't been widely used in fried foods. Most research so far on using starch blends to cut down oil in fried food has focused on simply combining different natural starches. For example, studies have found that adding wheat or corn starch to reshaped potato chips can meaningfully lower how much oil the chips soak up, by making the starch gel in the dough stronger. Similarly, in breaded fried chicken nuggets, coating them with sweet potato starch has been shown to reduce oil absorption better than other natural starches.^5,6

“These studies,” write the authors of the paper,² “validate the potential of regulating gel network strength through the blending of native starches from various sources.”

Does Adding Ultrasound-Treated Pea Starch Reduce Oil Absorption in Fried Foods?

The researchers found that using a specific amount of the treated pea starch (3%, processed with sound waves for 20 minutes) cut the total amount of oil absorbed by fried corn starch by about 11%, without damaging the starch's underlying structure. At this 3% level, the treated pea starch and corn starch formed a tight, solid, gel-like network with no gaps or holes, making the mixture noticeably firmer and more elastic. This dense structure acted like a physical shield, blocking oil from soaking in and cutting oil on the surface by about 2% as well as oil trapped inside the food by about 8.5%. Special imaging techniques confirmed that this treated starch created a real barrier that kept oil from penetrating into the food. Beyond reducing oil, this denser structure also gave the fried food a better texture (firmer, springier, and more pleasant to chew) along with a more appealing color.²

Finally, computer simulations showed why this happens: the treated starch caused the starch molecules to fold and clump together in a way that reduced how much surface area was available for oil to stick to, which is ultimately what led to less oil being absorbed.²

“These findings,” write the authors of the paper,² “provide a theoretical basis and technical support for developing low-oil, high-quality starch-based battered and coated fried foods.”

Read More on Similar Topics
Chromatography Tracks Glycoalkaloids in Fried Potatoes

References

1. Dourado, C.; Pinto, C.; Barba, F. J. et al. Innovative Non-Thermal Technologies Affecting Potato Tuber and Fried Potato Quality. Trends Food Sci. Tech. 2019, 88, 274-289. DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2019.03.015
2. Wang, M.; Yu, X.; Liu, R. et al. Ultrasonically Treated Pea Starch Modulates Oil Absorption in Corn Starch-Based Deep-Fried Products: Insights into Gel Network Architecture, Interfacial Behavior, and Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Food Res Int. 2026, 240, 119597. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2026.119597
3. Compart, J.; Singh, A.; Fettke, J. et al. Customizing Starch Properties: A Review of Starch Modifications and Their Applications. Polymers (Basel) 2023, 15 (16), 3491. DOI: 10.3390/polym15163491
4. Zia-Ud-Din; Xiong, H.; Fei, P. Physical and Chemical Modification of Starches: A Review. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2017, 57 (12), 2691-2705. DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2015.1087379
5. Faloye, O. R.; Sobukola, O. P.; T.A. Shittu, T. A. et al. Effect of Different Starches in Batter Formulation on Oil Content and Associated Quality Attributes of Fried Chicken Nuggets. Food Prod. Process. Nutr.2024, 6 (1), 40. DOI: 10.1186/s43014-023-00214-4
6. Zhang, J.; Ni, Y.; Li, J. et al. The Effects of Adding Various Starches on the Structures of Restructured Potato-Based Dough and the Oil Uptake of Potato Chips. J Sci Food Agric. 2024, 104 (12), 7194-7203. DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.13541