Optimisation of the frying process of frozen pre-fried potatoes using ultrasound to reduce acrylamide and glycoalkaloids.

The present study evaluated the impact of processing and frying of Bicentenaria, CIP-Poderosa Pollera and Única potatoes on AC and glycoalkaloid (GA) content. The samples were subjected to ultrasound treatment, variations in pre-cooking and pre-frying parameters, and three frying methods: deep-frying (DF), oven-frying (OF) and air-frying (AF). A Taguchi design was applied to analyse the colour difference (∆E) and a response surface design to optimise the process. The optimised treatment (OT1) corresponded to the Bicentenaria variety, fried by the deep-frying method (180 °C, 6 min), with 28.93 % ultrasound power and pre-frying at 77.1 °C. This treatment presented the highest desirability (0.88), low acrylamide (0.019 mg/kg) and glycoalkaloids (6.971 mg/kg), adequate texture (7.50 N) and good colour quality (∆E = 14.83). Understanding optimal processing conditions and mitigation strategies is critical to producing safer potato products. This study demonstrates that it is possible to obtain safe French fries from local varieties such as Bicentenaria, representing a sustainable alternative to the use of imported potatoes in the domestic industry.