The effects of cooking, storage, and ionizing irradiation on carotenoids, antioxidant activity, and phenolics in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)
Year: 2005
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Past research conducted by our lab demonstrated that potatoes contain significant\nlevels of phytochemicals important to human health. However, since potatoes are not\nconsumed raw, it is important to determine the effects of processing on these levels.\nTherefore, the changes in carotenoid content, antioxidant activity, and phenolic content\nwere investigated using combinations of cultivars, cooking methods, storage treatments,\nand low-dose ionizing irradiation. Carotenoid content was measured via absorbance at\n445 nm, 450 nm, and HPLC identification. Antioxidant activity was measured initially\nand at stabilization via the DPPH method and phenolic content was measured via the\nFolin method and HPLC identification.\nMicrowaved, baked, fried, and raw potato samples contained more carotenoids\nthan boiled samples. The samples microwaved, baked, and fried contained higher\nantioxidant activity and phenolics than the boiled or raw samples. However, the\ncompound quercetin dihydrate appeared to decrease with cooking.\nCarotenoids, antioxidant activity, and phenolics appeared to decrease with\nstorage; however, high storage temperatures and long storage times were believed to\ncause a dehydration and concentration of compounds, which caused levels to be equal to\nor greater than before storage. However, this decreasing trend was not linear and there\nwere multiple significant interactions. The compound chlorogenic acid appeared to be\nquite sensitive to high temperature storage.\nIrradiation dose appeared to have only a minor, if any, effect on carotenoid\nlevels. The interaction between storage time and irradiation dose was very influential on\nantioxidant activity. In early stages of storage, higher doses of irradiation had greater antioxidant activity, while, with continued storage, low doses had higher antioxidant\nactivity. Exposure to irradiation appeared to cause an increase in phenolic content,\ndetermined by the Folin method.\nThere may be a stimulation, induction, or release of some compounds due to\nprocessing; however, its magnitude is not believed to be as great as genetic control. The\neffects of processing can not be denied and should continue to be investigated. Future\nstudies investigating the health properties of fruits and vegetables, particularly potatoes\nshould include processing effects.
Author: Tyann Blessington
Language: English
Topic: Potato Plant Research
Subfield: Food Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2258485104