Objectives

The project goal is to develop a novel technique based on spontaneous capillary penetration (wicking) of culinary oils into porous media that determines the quality of an oil used for frying.

Project Objectives:

• In-depth investigation of capillary penetration of fresh and degraded oils in porous media.
• Dynamic interfacial properties of fresh and degraded oils.
• Investigation of the degradation during frying of oils of different origin and different degree of unsaturation.
• Investigation of the effect of food type on oil degradation.
• Analysis of fried oils physical and chemical properties used as quality criteria in legislation.
• Measurement of porous media properties (surface properties, pore sizes).
• Investigation of the specific conditions for the application of the method.
• Design, development and testing of a prototype of the apparatus.
• Assessment of the method and of the prototype performance with respect to legislation criteria.
• Measurement of oil quality with other rapid methods.

Project Expected Results

The expected results of the project are:

• The method/technique (theoretical analysis, a prototype).
• The measurement results of the developed technique.
• New experimental data on dynamic interfacial phenomena of culinary oils.
• New experimental data on capillary penetration.
• Publication of the above in peer-reviewed scientific journals and international conferences.
• Submission of one or two patents.