Quality Changes in Different Cultivars of Sweet Potato During Deep-Fat Frying

Abstract

The goal of this study was to evaluate quality changes during deep fat frying of ive cultivars of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) namely, ‘Ginseng Red’, ‘Beauregard’, ‘White Travis’, ‘Georgia Jet clone #2010’ and ‘Georgia Jet’. The cultivars were grown in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada, harvested at maturity, and brought to the laboratory for analysis. Samples were peeled, sliced into cylindrical shape and deep fried in canola oil at the temperature of 180ºC for different times up to 5 min. Oil uptake, moisture loss, colour and texture parameters were measured. Oil uptake and moisture loss during frying followed the traditional 1st order kinetics proile for all the cultivars. A signiicant (P< 0.05) variation was observed in the rate of quality changes such as moisture loss and oil uptake in different cultivars after frying. ‘Ginseng Red’ was identiied as a suitable cultivar for French fries production because of its lowest oil saturation, good colour and textural properties development during frying.