BETA-CAROTENE STABILITY DURING DRYING AND STORAGE OF CASSAVA AND SWEET POTATO

The effect of blanching on the -carotene stability during drying and storage of cassava and sweet potato was evaluated.
The orange-fleshed sweet potato showed good retention of -carotene during the blanching and drying (100% and 96%, respectively), but lower retention (84% and 91%) was observed in cassava.
Cassava also showed lower -carotene stability than sweet potato during the storage of unblanched dried samples. -Carotene content of dried cassava was reduced from 8.6 μg/g to traces in 20 days of storage while the initial amount of dried sweet potato (463 μg/g) was reduced by about 45% (210 μg/g). Blanching did not affect the -carotene retention during the drying, but enhanced the stability of this carotenoid during the storage of dried samples at room temperature, especially in cassava.
The initial levels of blanched-dried cassava and sweet potato (7.8 and 513 μg/g, respectively) took 70 days to fall by around 50%.

II International Symposium on Human Health Effects of Fruits and Vegetables: FAVHEALTH 2007

P. Nascimento, N.S. Fernandes, M.A. Mauro, M. Kimura

carotenoid, degradation, retention, blanching, dehydration

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.841.45