Sweet Potato Variability in Boiled Slices and Fried Chips

Abstract

Roots of thirty cultivars, breeding lines, and of 310 unselected seedlings of sweet potato were evaluated as boiled slices. Then slices of seventy five selections of these were deep fried in soybean oil and evaluated as chips. On the basis of color, sweetness, and mouthfeel, seedlings were classified into 25 of 27 theoretical classes. Low sweetness was associated with dry mouthfeel. The frequency of defects in the boiled slice was determined. Two types of chips were distinguished, a sweet cookie-type chip, and a nonsweet chip. Quality characteristics were more or less independent of each other and of other characteristics measured. Ratings of chips were closely correlated to judgment of flavor, and to a lesser extent, crispness, lack of oil residue, and attractiveness. High ratings were not associated with degree of sweetness. Sweet potatoes are suitable for cookie-type as well as conventional chips. However, their properties before frying are not reliable guides to quality when fried.