Finger millet flour based batter coating: effects on frying behavior, oil uptake, and storage stability of chicken popcorn
Abstract
Batter coating systems in fried poultry products are primarily designed to enhance sensory attributes, such as crispiness and flavor; however, their potential role as functional matrices for improving frying performance and nutritional quality remains largely unexplored. This study investigated the effect of incorporating finger millet flour (FMF) as a functional batter ingredient on the frying behavior, oil uptake, and storage stability of chicken popcorn. Batter formulations were developed by replacing cornflour with FMF at 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%, designated as Control, T1, T2, and T3, respectively. The enrobed products were evaluated for proximate composition, cooking quality parameters, physicochemical characteristics, microbiological quality, and sensory attributes during four weeks of refrigerated storage (4 ± 1 °C). Incorporation of FMF significantly influenced frying performance (p < 0.05), resulting in improved cooking yield and moisture retention while reducing fat uptake during frying. The formulation containing 10% FMF (T2) exhibited the most favourable technological performance, with the highest cooking yield (86.38%) and moisture retention (83.01%) alongside reduced fat content in cooked samples compared with the control. During storage, progressive increases in pH, tyrosine value, thiobarbituric acid value, free fatty acids, and microbial counts were observed across all treatments, reflecting typical storage related spoilage. However, FMF treated samples exhibited comparatively lower oxidative and proteolytic changes, indicating modest improvement in physicochemical stability. Sensory evaluation further revealed that chicken popcorn coated with 10% FMF achieved the highest overall acceptability. Overall, the results demonstrate that FMF can serve as an effective functional batter coating ingredient capable of modulating frying behaviour, reducing oil absorption, and improving storage stability of fried poultry snacks without compromising sensory quality. This approach provides a promising strategy for developing nutritionally improved fried meat products using millet-based functional ingredients.