Abstract
This study sought to define what attributes of sweetpotatoes are most critical to textural qualities of their fried chips for effective selection of specialty cultivars. It compared texture-predicting fracturability of fried chips prepared from either structurally intact or disrupted slices of 13 cultivars; analyzed major attributes of these sweetpotatoes, including starch contents and properties, dry matter contents, and structure-related penetration resistances (measured using an adapted penetration test); and evaluated correlational relationships between these attributes of sweetpotatoes and fracturability of fried chips. The study found that lower dry matter (<22.6% F.W.) and starch contents (<10% F.W.), and lower gelatinization temperatures of starch in sweetpotatoes generally resulted in a more favorable fracturability (lower peak break force) of fried chips. However, contrary to potato, total dry matter content is not the sole determinant of textural qualities of fried sweetpotato chips; instead, structure-related attributes of sweetpotatoes appear to have a greater impact. Partial structural disruptions of sweetpotato slices by blanching effectively improved fracturability of fried chips in all analyzed cultivars, and by ~40% in eight of the 13 cultivars. Furthermore, the degree of structural penetrability of sweetpotatoes, as indexed by penetration resistances, showed very significant correlations with fracturability of fried chips. Key words: Sweetpotato chips, fracturability, puncture test, structure-related attributes, dry matter content, starch.
Highlights
The textural quality of fried sweetpotato chips was objectively evaluated via their mechanical fracturability, which was measured as the peak fracture force
As illustrated by load versus displacement curves from fracturing four sweetpotato chips (Figure 1), the peak loads registered the maximal forces of break, which were the forces that caused the first major fractures characterized by a minimum of 10% load drop
The results indicates that sweetpotatoes having dry matter contents from ~ 19 to
Summary
Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] is the seventh largest food crop in world production (FAOSTAT, 2010). Sweetpotato storage roots offer excellent nutrition and health benefits due to the presence of abundant vitamins (Vitamin A precursor β-Carotene, Vitamin B1 and C, and one of the few non-fat sources of Vitamin E), antioxidant micronutrients, beneficial complex carbohydrates, minerals and dietary fibers (Bovell-Benjamin, 2007; Woolfe, 1993). Utilization of sweetpotatoes for food and industrial raw materials has steadily declined in recent years, and this is mirrored by reduction of its annual worldwide production from a peak of ~1.5 × 10 t in 1978 to ~1.06 × 10 t in 2006 and thereafter (FAOSTAT, 1961 to 2010)
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