The aim of this study was to determine the effect of microwave pretreatment, usage of methylcellulose, oil temperature, and frying time on mass transfer during deep fat frying of chicken nuggets. Methylcellulose was used in batter and as a coating on product. Microwave with two power densities namely 3.7 and 7.4 W/g was used for reduction of initial moisture content of samples before frying. Frying was performed at three temperatures (150 °C, 170 °C, and 190 °C) and five intervals (0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4 min) in the sunflower oil. The least oil content was observed when MC was used as a coating layer on non-precooked samples fried at 190 °C. Oil absorption of samples with MC in batter was partially higher compared to control samples. This could be attributed to the rheology of batters. The first-order kinetic model was fitted to moisture and oil content. For determining the correlation between temperature and moisture diffusivity, Arrhenius equation was used. The constant rate for moisture and oil transfer was in the range of 2.2–5 and 0.023–2.67 s−1, respectively. Effective moisture diffusivity values were between 1.43 × 10−8 and 3.24 × 10−8 m2/s. Activation energy ranged between 0.71 and 1.71 kJ/mol.

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