文摘
Microstructures of fried lotus root slices were observed using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) in fluorescent modes. The three-dimensional (3D) cell structure and morphology of samples were analyzed, for the first time, using 3D reconstructed fluorescent images to determine the cell morphology, oil location and content. Results show that oil was mainly located in the intercellular spaces, broken cells and voids created by the cutting operation, as well as in the wrinkles and distortions caused by the water leakage after frying, cell detachment, starch swelling and rapid dehydration of the first cell layer. Besides, the image stacks obtained by CLSM were processed independently to determine the oil-volume measurements using objective threshold selection. The 3D image data were used for quantitative characterization of oil content by calculating the oil volume. A good correlation between the CLSM results and normal analysis is obtained with the correlation coefficients of 0.892 and 0.875 in calibration and predication, respectively. This study demonstrated that CLSM could determine the oil location and content in fried snacks.