Consumer acceptability, physicochemical characteristics, and bioactive compounds of sweet potato roots subjected to osmotic dehydration

Sweet potato dehydration is a way of increasing shelf life, modifying and adding value to the final product. However, some of the compounds of nutritional interest may be lost during processing. Thus, this work evaluates dif­ferent dehydration treatments for sweet potato, and determines the best condition for a quality product. Two sweet potato genotypes (UGA 127 and UGA 34) were first subjected to osmotic dehydration using a 65% sucrose solu­tion or a 2% sodium chloride solution (NaCl), both for 5 hours, being compared with the control treatment. Subse­quently, the samples were oven dried at 65 °C for 6 hours. Sweet potatoes were analyzed for sensory character­istics (color, flavor, crispness, aroma, overall acceptability, and purchase intent), physicochemical characteristics (color, titratable acidity, soluble solids), bioactive compounds (β-carotene, phenolic, ascorbic acid), and antioxi­dant capacity. Potatoes dehydrated with 65% sucrose were well accepted by the tasters. The soluble solids con­tent and soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio were higher for sweet potatoes treated with 65% sucrose. Genotypes differed significantly for luminosity, and the highest average was found for UGA 127, indicating that potatoes pro­cessed from this root had a lighter coloration. The content of bioactive compounds varied as a function of the dif­ferent treatments and genotypes; in general, the highest levels were found in the control and 65% sucrose treat­ments. Genotype UGA 127 treated with 65% sucrose proved to be a good marketing alternative for small farmers.