Starch transformation and structure development in production and reconstitution of potato flakes

Abstract

Changes of parenchymous tissue structure and transformations of starch in the production and reconstitution of drum-dried potato flakes as instant mashed potatoes were investigated by light microscopy, iodine binding capacity, thermal analysis, wide-angle X-ray powder diffraction and rheology. Instant mashed potatoes are suspensions which are formed by separating whole potato tissue into individual cells. Mechanical stress during mashing and the subsequent steps also lead to undesirable cell disruption and extracellular starch. The stabilizing effect on starch by gelatinization and retrogradation in the preheating and cooling step was found to be far less important than mentioned in literature. While amylopectin does not retrograde, amylose crystallizes de novo during preheating, probably further aggregates during the cooling step and the ageing of mashed potatoes and melts fully during drum drying. The total amount of cells and the proportion of single cells to cell clusters as dispersed phase determine product flow properties as much as the amount of extracellular starch in the continuous fluid phase. Therefore, the iodine binding value of extracellular starch cannot serve as only measure to judge texture of mashed potato products.