Selected Functional Properties of Flour From Three Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) Varieties

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine, compare and evaluate the selected functional properties of flour from three different varieties of sweet potato, namely, NSIC SP-32, PSB SP-17 and VSP-6 produced by PhilRootcrops, Visayas State University. These properties are necessary for the development and improvement of food products from sweet potato which provide an excellent means of increasing the utilization of this nutritious high-yielding crop. All the flour samples showed great potential in the characteristics (moisture content and pH) for long shelf life. PSB SP-17 flour had the highest potential in the applications for thickening, binding and gelling in food processing compared to the other two flour samples, as supported by the data on water absorption capacity and gelation capacity. PSB SP-17 flour showed good fat-binding ability for applications in meat processing and colloidal food systems. It also showed the highest viscosity and lowest amylose content. NSIC SP-32 flour possessed these characteristics but only came second to PSB SP-17. VSP-6 showed the highest bulk density which is of good use in packaging and food preparations. It also showed the highest foaming capacity compared to NSIC SP-32 and PSB SP-17.