It is known that phospholipase C (PLC) enzymatic degumming can hydrolyze phospholipids into diacylglycerol (DAG), which improves the efficiency of oil processing. However, it is unclear whether the presence of DAG and the use of enzymes affect the performance of the oil. This paper evaluated the frying performance of PLC-degummed refined soybean oil. Following the chicken wings and potato chips frying trials, results revealed that after 30 cycles of frying, free fatty acid (FFA) levels were 0.22% and 0.21%, with total polar compounds (TPC) at 23.75% and 24.00%, and peroxide value (PV) levels were 5.90 meq/kg and 6.45 meq/kg, respectively. Overall, PLC-degummed refined soybean oil showed almost the same frying properties as traditional water-degummed refined oil in terms of FFA, PV, TPC, polymer content, viscosity, color, foaming of frying oils, and appearance of foods. Moreover, FFA, TPC, polymer content, foaming, and color showed significant positive correlations with each other (p < 0.05) in soybean oil intermittent frying processing.
Keywords: degumming; diacylglycerol; frying; soybean oil.