Effect of ultrasound pretreatment on iron fortification of potato using vacuum impregnation

Abstract

In this study, the whole potato was fortified with iron by using vacuum impregnation (VI) with an ultrasound (US) pretreatment. The physicochemical properties of VI-processed potatoes were evaluated after a cooking process. The optimization of US pretreatment parameters was performed with respect to area fraction parameter, color, and texture and components leakage. The use of US with a lower frequency and a higher power intensity caused a higher ink impregnation, leakage of sugar content, and phenolic components after VI processing. The parameters of US have not a significant effect on color and texture of VI-processed potatoes. The obtained results indicated that VI and US–VI processes significantly enhanced the iron content about 137.5 and 210%, respectively. For fortified-cooked potatoes, the relative bioavailability of SunActive Fe was lower than the ferrous sulfate, but it had no undesirable effect on sensory evaluation, color parameters, and texture of fortified potatoes. Practical applications Food fortification with iron is a suitable strategy to control the iron deficiency. The ultrasound (US) pretreatment prior to vacuum impregnation (VI) leads to a higher iron impregnation. The US pretreatment has not significant effects on the color and textural properties of whole potatoes fortified by VI. SunActive Fe can be also considered as a suitable iron source to fortification of potato due to no undesirable effect on sensory properties, color parameters, and oxidative stability.