[5-1130-P] Postharvest/Food Technology and Process Engineering (5th)

[5-1130-P-11] Optimization of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas var. Kinerot) Flour Processing for Carotenoid Retention

James Ryan D. Aranzado¹, *Loraine C. Bainto¹, Dennis Marvin O. Santiago¹ (1. Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Food Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños(Philippines))

Keywords:orange-fleshed sweet potato , response surface methodology, carotenoid retention, flour processing

Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is a rich source of carotenoids which upon body intake, is converted to Vitamin A. This raw material is commonly processed into popular food ingredients such as flour, however, the conversion process renders carotenoids susceptible to degradation. To maximize the retention of carotenoids in OFSP, optimized processing conditions must be determined using appropriate tool. In the study, response surface methodology was used to optimize the different process parameters involved in the production of sweet potato flour which will yield the desired level of identified responses related to its carotenoid content. Factor levels of processing conditions including slab thickness (ST), blanching time (Bt), blanching temperature (BT), and drying temperature (DT) were varied to determine their effect on selected responses namely vitamin A value, L*a*b* color values, and antioxidant activity. The optimized values obtained for the independent variables were 1.55 mm, 1.46 minutes, 100°C, and 50°C for ST, Bt, BT, and DT, respectively. Sweet potato flour produced under these conditions displayed maximized Vitamin A value (3810.09 IU per gram), a* (16.04) and b* (38.42) values, and antioxidant activity (81.19% DPPH inhibition) with minimized L* value (78.93). These experimental values were within the predicted interval of the responses which proves the applicability of the model.