Abstract
Several instrumental texture analysis methods have been developed for use in sweetpotato. However, there are very few reports on the use of the wedge fracture test. The purpose of the study was to develop a texture analysis method using a wedge fracture and evaluate its performance against compression test in assessing sweetpotato varieties with different cooking times. The optimal cooking time (OCT) of five sweetpotato varieties was determined by boiling 2.5 cm3 cubes until soft. Samples for texture analysis were prepared under four conditions: 85°C for 10 and 15 min; and 95°C for 5 and 10 min. Peak positive force (firmness) and total work done (toughness) were determined using the wedge fracture texture analysis. The correlation between the OCT and texture measurements was evaluated, and samples incubated at 85°C for 15 min had the highest correlation with OCT (R2 = 0.725). Using this heat treatment, texture measurements from the wedge fracture were compared to those obtained from a compression test. The wedge fracture test gave significant discrimination of sweetpotato varieties (p ≤ 0.05) while the compression test did not. The wedge fracture test is thus recommended for determining the instrumental firmness of boiled sweetpotato varieties with different cooking times. Key words: Texture, wedge fracture test, orange-fleshed sweetpotato, optimal cooking time.
Highlights
Sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam, is ranked as the 5th most important food crop after rice, wheat, maize, and cassava in the developing countries, and ranked seventh in the world food production (FAO, 2016)
The average time was recorded in min, as the optimal cooking time (OCT)
The samples cooked at 95°C for 10 min had the lowest instrumental texture values, that is they were the softest, while those incubated at 85°C for 10 min had the highest texture values (Figure 1)
Summary
Sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam, is ranked as the 5th most important food crop after rice, wheat, maize, and cassava in the developing countries, and ranked seventh in the world food production (FAO, 2016). There is an abundance of white-fleshed sweetpotato (WFSP) varieties across SSA but over the past two decades, the breeding focus has been on producing biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) varieties which have enhanced β-. OFSP is a proven, cost-effective method of providing vitamin A to vulnerable populations, especially children and pregnant women (Low et al, 2007, 2017; Sanginga, 2015). Consumer acceptance of new sweetpotato varieties is a major challenge for adoption in both fresh and processing markets and is dependent on the quality and utilization attributes (Tomlins et al, 2004)
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