Potato flour is a highly versatile raw material that can be used in several processed food products. Two Mauritian potato cultivars were turned into flour and used to prepare mash, gulab jamuns, and paratha, three traditional Mauritian foods. The samples were compared for peeling losses, drying characteristics, chemical changes, and functional properties. The Exodus cultivar was more economical for producing potato flour due to its higher yield and lower drying ratio compared with Spunta. The chemical composition of the two cultivars did not vary, and most of the functional properties were comparable. A slight variation in water-absorption capacity was observed. Slurries of 8% potato flour were pseudoplastic. Mash prepared from Spunta flour was superior to that from Exodus, but both were comparable to the control. Experimental mash samples were superior to a commercial instant potato mash. Gulab jamuns with milk and potato flour in ratios of 3:1 and 5:1 were superior to commercial samples, and parathas made with 40% potato flour were more acceptable than those made with wheat flour alone.

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Crisps adversely made from stored whole potatoes turn brown, whereas texture is adversely affected when crisps are made from dehydrated slices. Rehydration as a step prior to crisp-making has been investigated in two commercially grown potato varieties in Mauritius. The raw material was analysed for physical, chemical and processing characteristics including peeling losses, blanching time, drying rates and yield. Rehydration rates and ratios were determined. The sensory characteristics of the crisps were evaluated. Potatoes of the Exodus variety were smaller with more eyes and had higher peeling loss than those of the Spunta variety. The former had higher specific gravity and better drying characteristics. There were no significant differences between the varieties in respect of blanching time, chemical composition and crisp quality, and the drying curves were similar. Slight differences were observed in the rehydration characteristics. Crisps made from dehydrated slices were inferior in texture and taste to those of the control. However, crisps made from rehydrated slices were comparable to control crisps.

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Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) cannot be grown economically on unamended acid soils because of poor pod-®lling resulting from an inadequate supply of calcium. Gypsum improves pod-®lling but in Mauritius it is now too expensive. Field trials were conducted at two locations in 1994±95 and at four locations in 1995±96 to ®nd out if cement could be used instead of gypsum. In three trials where the soil pH ranged from 5.4 to 6.3 and the soil calcium level from 2.4 to 6.9 cmol kg 71 , there were few empty pods and no response to gypsum or cement was observed. At the remaining three sites, the soil pH was 5.5, 4.9 and 4.3 and the soil calcium levels were 1.8, 0.39 and 0.92 cmol kg 71 , respectively. In the untreated plots at the three sites 17.4%, 27.5% and 50.6% of the pods were empty. Cement at rates of 525 and 700 kg ha 71 and gypsum at 1000 kg ha 71 applied to the foliage at¯owering reduced the number of empty pods to less than 10% and signi®cantly increased seed yield, shelling percentage and commercial-grade kernels. However, cement was not as eective when placed in the furrows at planting. At current prices, the use of cement was cost eective whereas that of gypsum was not. Cement may therefore be proposed as a replacement for gypsum for the improvement of pod-®lling in groundnut.