Evaluation of oven baking and air-frying as potential alternatives of deep frying, considering PM2.5 and PAHs emissions from cooking animal- and plant-based protein foods

Background: With most people spending more time indoors than outdoors, indoor pollution is considered having profound impacts on health. In Asian countries, high-temperature cooking oil fumes (COFs) are a major indoor air pollution source. Previous studies indicate variations in aerosol types and co...

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Main Authors: Szu-Yun Wu, Kuang-Mao Chiang, Shih-Chun Candice Lung, Yu-Cheng Chen, Wen-Harn Pan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-12-01
Series:Applied Food Research
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225004482
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author Szu-Yun Wu
Kuang-Mao Chiang
Shih-Chun Candice Lung
Yu-Cheng Chen
Wen-Harn Pan
author_facet Szu-Yun Wu
Kuang-Mao Chiang
Shih-Chun Candice Lung
Yu-Cheng Chen
Wen-Harn Pan
author_sort Szu-Yun Wu
collection DOAJ
description Background: With most people spending more time indoors than outdoors, indoor pollution is considered having profound impacts on health. In Asian countries, high-temperature cooking oil fumes (COFs) are a major indoor air pollution source. Previous studies indicate variations in aerosol types and concentrations during deep-frying are attributed to differences in of ingredient composition such as foods cooked and oil used. Objective: The goal is to compare PM2.5 and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emissions during deep-frying, oven-baking, and air-frying of plant-based (tofu) and animal-based (chicken) protein foods with soybean oil and to evaluate sensory acceptability of the produced foods in order to identify alternative cooking methods with lower emission but equivalent food tastes. Method: We monitored emitted PAHs, PM2.5, and particle size-specific mass and number concentrations of fine particles in eight replicates during cooking. Moreover, acceptance tests were conducted employing a nine-point Hedonic Scale regarding appearance, aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, aftertaste, and overall acceptance for different protein sources and cooking methods. Results: Regarding particle matters, irrespective of the foods, deep-frying demonstrated higher particle mass and number concentrations compared to oven-baking and air-frying. Both mass and number concentrations for chicken were substantially higher than those for tofu, especially in the Accumulation mode and Aitken mode with diameters below 1000 nm. Tofu exhibited extremely low PAHs emissions across all cooking methods, while chicken showed significantly higher PAHs emissions during deep-frying than the other two cooking methods, with an accumulating effect over time. In sensory evaluation, although deep-frying still achieved the highest scores, oven-baking also received favorable ratings. It even surpassed deep-frying in certain aspects.
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spelling doaj-art-906fcd85684542be8bd5cb872036dab62025-08-20T03:17:13ZengElsevierApplied Food Research2772-50222025-12-015210114310.1016/j.afres.2025.101143Evaluation of oven baking and air-frying as potential alternatives of deep frying, considering PM2.5 and PAHs emissions from cooking animal- and plant-based protein foodsSzu-Yun Wu0Kuang-Mao Chiang1Shih-Chun Candice Lung2Yu-Cheng Chen3Wen-Harn Pan4Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115201, Taiwan; College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City 235, TaiwanInstitute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115201, TaiwanResearch Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115201, TaiwanNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli 35053, Taiwan; Corresponding authors.Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115201, Taiwan; College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City 235, Taiwan; Corresponding authors.Background: With most people spending more time indoors than outdoors, indoor pollution is considered having profound impacts on health. In Asian countries, high-temperature cooking oil fumes (COFs) are a major indoor air pollution source. Previous studies indicate variations in aerosol types and concentrations during deep-frying are attributed to differences in of ingredient composition such as foods cooked and oil used. Objective: The goal is to compare PM2.5 and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emissions during deep-frying, oven-baking, and air-frying of plant-based (tofu) and animal-based (chicken) protein foods with soybean oil and to evaluate sensory acceptability of the produced foods in order to identify alternative cooking methods with lower emission but equivalent food tastes. Method: We monitored emitted PAHs, PM2.5, and particle size-specific mass and number concentrations of fine particles in eight replicates during cooking. Moreover, acceptance tests were conducted employing a nine-point Hedonic Scale regarding appearance, aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, aftertaste, and overall acceptance for different protein sources and cooking methods. Results: Regarding particle matters, irrespective of the foods, deep-frying demonstrated higher particle mass and number concentrations compared to oven-baking and air-frying. Both mass and number concentrations for chicken were substantially higher than those for tofu, especially in the Accumulation mode and Aitken mode with diameters below 1000 nm. Tofu exhibited extremely low PAHs emissions across all cooking methods, while chicken showed significantly higher PAHs emissions during deep-frying than the other two cooking methods, with an accumulating effect over time. In sensory evaluation, although deep-frying still achieved the highest scores, oven-baking also received favorable ratings. It even surpassed deep-frying in certain aspects.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225004482Cooking oil fumePM2.5PAHsDeep fryingOven bakingAir frying
spellingShingle Szu-Yun Wu
Kuang-Mao Chiang
Shih-Chun Candice Lung
Yu-Cheng Chen
Wen-Harn Pan
Evaluation of oven baking and air-frying as potential alternatives of deep frying, considering PM2.5 and PAHs emissions from cooking animal- and plant-based protein foods
Applied Food Research
Cooking oil fume
PM2.5
PAHs
Deep frying
Oven baking
Air frying
title Evaluation of oven baking and air-frying as potential alternatives of deep frying, considering PM2.5 and PAHs emissions from cooking animal- and plant-based protein foods
title_full Evaluation of oven baking and air-frying as potential alternatives of deep frying, considering PM2.5 and PAHs emissions from cooking animal- and plant-based protein foods
title_fullStr Evaluation of oven baking and air-frying as potential alternatives of deep frying, considering PM2.5 and PAHs emissions from cooking animal- and plant-based protein foods
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of oven baking and air-frying as potential alternatives of deep frying, considering PM2.5 and PAHs emissions from cooking animal- and plant-based protein foods
title_short Evaluation of oven baking and air-frying as potential alternatives of deep frying, considering PM2.5 and PAHs emissions from cooking animal- and plant-based protein foods
title_sort evaluation of oven baking and air frying as potential alternatives of deep frying considering pm2 5 and pahs emissions from cooking animal and plant based protein foods
topic Cooking oil fume
PM2.5
PAHs
Deep frying
Oven baking
Air frying
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225004482
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