Abstract: In order to characterize the oil absorption behavior of potato chips during the different frying time, the soxhlet extraction, dye method, confocal laser scanning microscopy and low field nuclear magnetic resonance imaging were combined to analyze and explain the oil absorption behavior of potato chips in this paper. When the frying temperature was 180 ℃ and the ratio of oil to material was 10:1, the changing rules of oil content, oil type and oil distribution of potato chips during the different frying time were obtained. In addition, the porosity characteristics of potato chips were also used to explain the oil absorption behavior during frying. The results showed that frying time (0-12 min) significantly affected the content of total oil, surface oil, structural oil and surface penetrated oil of potato chips at the frying temperature of 180 ℃ and the ratio of oil to material of 10:1 (P<0.05). The total oil content of potato chips increased with the increase of frying time. When the frying time reached 10 min, the total oil content of potato chips was 47.09%, and then it gradually tended to be stable. The surface oil content of potato chips was the lowest, which was about 1.30%-2.06%. The structural oil content of potato chips increased with the increase of frying time, however the PSO content of potato chips decreased when the frying time exceeded 6 min. The confocal laser scanning microscopy showed that during the frying process, the red region of potato chips enlarged with the increase of frying time, which meant the increase of the oil content of potato chips. The oil was permeated from the surface of the potato slice to the interior and located on cell walls, which followed the cell shapes and filled the intercellular spaces. When the frying time was 0-8 min, the pore volume and porosity increased with the increase of frying time, and the oil content of potato chips was also increased. Overall, this study has an important significance for the characterization of oil absorption behavior of potato chips during the frying process. Besides, it provides reliable data and effective means for the development of potato chips with the lower oil content.