ALKALI‐PROCESSED SWEETPOTATO FRENCH FRIES¹

Abstract

A combination of alkali (sodium phosphate or calcium chloride) infiltration and blanching and their order of application were studied for their efect on the sensory and physico-chemical (moisture, fat, sugars, and shear force) quality of sweetpotato French fries (SPFF) made from sweetpotatoes (SP) stored for 3 months or 1 year. Sensory quality (taste, texture, and overall acceptability) were evaluated using a nine-point hedonic scale. Treatment of SP strips with sodium phosphate solutions prior to blanching caused an increase in firmness as compared with untreated strips. For SPFF produced from SP stored 3 months, sensory quality of treated SPFF was indistinguishable from untreated SPFF. However, for SP processed at I year of storage, the sensory texture of treated samples was more acceptable than the sensory texture of untreated samples. Shear force data indicated that the frmest samples did not have the most acceptable sensory texture, indicating that there is an optimal level of shear force that gives the "right" amount of resistance to chewing to result in a more acceptable product. This process can be used in the manufacture SPFFfiom SP stored up to 1 year.

Thermodynamic properties of sweetpotato

“…Some of the value-added products that can be produced from sweetpotato include: puree (Walter, Truong, & Espinel, 1999), French-fry-type product (Sylvia, Walter, & Giesbrecht, 1997), patties (Hoover & Walter, 1983), starch and flour (Dansby & Bovell-Benjamin, 2003;Jangchud, Phimolsiripol, & Haruthaithanasan, 2003;Rahman, Wheatley, & Rakshit, 2003) and dried chips (Akpapunam & Abiante, 1991;Kieras, Mills, Knabel, & Maretzki, 2002). Value-added processing of sweetpotato into dried chips is one of the most promising because of the longer shelf life and superior handling characteristics of the chips in comparison to other products.…”

The effect of shape, blanching methods and flour on characteristics of restructured sweetpotato stick

“…Development of texturized SP puree was reported by Truong & Walter (1994) and Truong et al (1995). Restructured French fries were also developed by Walter et al (2002) and Sylvia et al (1997).…”

ALKALI‐NEUTRALIZATION PROCESS MAINTAINS THE FIRMNESS AND SENSORY QUALITY OF CANNED SWEETPOTATO PIECES1

“…5.8-6.0; (3) same as treatment (2) except the sodium acetate solution contained 2% calcium chloride. VI and blanching were as described earlier (Walter et al 1993;Sylvia et al 1997).…”

“…Walter et al (1993) showed that infiltratlon of SP tissue with bases, followed by blanching and neutralization, caused a significant increase in firmness retention of sliced SP strips when compared with blanched, untreated strips. Later research (Sylvia and Walter 1997) demonstrated that infiltration of a dilute Na,PO, solution, followed by blanching and neutralization, gave the most acceptable French frytype product from SP stored for up to 1 year before processing. In this report we discuss the use of the alkali infusion-neutralization process to minimize softening and disintegration of SP stored for 1, 5 and 10 months before canning.…”