Evaluation of Different Conventional Breading Materials on Functional Quality Attributes of Battered and Breaded Fish Cutlets

Abstract

ABSTRACT Breading and battering of fish results in a physically superior product with a higher economic value from low-value fish. The present work was undertaken to evaluate three conventional breading materials for fish cutlets. Standard sized fish cutlets were molded with and dipped in a batter mix, followed by breading with bread crumbs (CB), pressed rice (PR), or noodle vermicelli (NS). The products were evaluated for coating parameters such as pickup, adhesion degree, cooking loss, and frying yield. The coating pickup ranged from 10.95% to 36.00%, and a maximum pickup was found with pressed rice (PR). Similarly, the adhesion degree in PR was 26.47%, which was highest among the three. Cooking loss was highest with control (conventional breadcrumb) at 15.92%. After analyzing the frying yield, it was found that PR yielded the maximum at 16.75% and less oil absorption. PR also had significantly (p < .05) higher hue angle value than both the NS and CB. Maximum browning and tough texture was observed in the NS sample. Frying tolerance was better with PR breading, which maintained better color during deep frying operations. This study can help industries to utilze low-cost breading material in preparing enrobed snack products.