Suitability of potato varieties grown from true seed and seed tubers for chips making using a microwave oven

Abstract

One of the basic concepts of microwave drying of potato (Solanum tuberosum) chips is to achieve desired chip colour and texture, within a short period. In this study, chips (1 mm thickness) of true potato seed (TPS) (‘BARI TPS-1’) and seed potato (‘Asterix’) varieties were heated for 0, 10, 20, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180 and 300 s by a microwave oven, and the changes in chips were analysed physiologically and histologically to investigate the suitability of TPS tubers as processing potato. Although potato chip crispiness of both potato varieties increased continuously throughout the heating treatment, crispiness of ‘BARI TPS-1’, increased more slowly than that of ‘Asterix’, indicating that TPS chips became less rigid and fluffy after microwave heating than that of ‘Asterix’ chips. SEM images of starch granules showed slower swelling and deformed structure in TPS than in ‘Asterix’, suggesting that TPS can retain crisp texture longer than ‘Asterix’. Although there was no substantial increase of a* and b* value in both potato chips, a lower value of L* and crispiness in TPS, suggests TPS chips lose crispiness and colour within a shorter period of microwave heating than ‘Asterix’.

Key words: Colour, crispiness, Solanum tuberosum, TPS