ABSTRACT: Textural characteristics of taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) cormels during storage at tropical ambient conditions (31.8 to 44.9 °C, 30% to 50% relative humidity [RH]), evaporative cooled room (EC room) (26.2 to 33.9 °C, 59% to 92% RH), and refrigerator (10 °C, 65% RH) and cooking were measured under compression/penetration and cutting modes. After 20 d of storage, physiological loss in weight was maximum at ambient condition followed by EC room and refrigerated condition. The textural parameters (that is, hardness, toughness, cutting force, and cutting energy) significantly increased with storage period whereas effect of storage condition was significant only for toughness and cutting energy (P < 0.001). Most of the rheological characteristics were lowered for the flours prepared from the stored samples. Fractional conversion technique and time step effect parameters were employed to model the kinetics of texture degradation during cooking. The mode of measurement of texture characteristics influenced the kinetic model, that is, cutting force, was described with 1st‐order kinetic model and hardness by dual mechanism of 1st order.