Lactic acid (LA) fermentation has many benefits. It is feasible in small scale, inexpensive, and does not require additives and confers organoleptic characteristics to the foodstuff according to the habits and requirement of the consumers. Sweet potato roots were pickled by lactic fermentation by brining the cut and blanched roots in common salt (NaCl, 2–10%) solution and subsequently inoculated with a strain of Lactobacillus plantarum (MTCC 1407) for 28 days. The treatment with 8–10% brine solution was found to be the most acceptable organoleptically. The final product with 8 and 10% brine solutions had a pH of 2.9–3.0, titratable acidity of 2.9–3.7 g/kg, LA of 2.6–3.2 g/kg and starch of 58–68 g/kg on fresh weight basis. Sensory evaluation rated the sweet potato lacto‐pickle acceptable based on texture, taste, aroma, flavor and aftertaste. Principal component analyses reduced the six original analytical variables to two independent components (factors), which accounted for 92% of the total variations.

Lacto-juices processed by lactic acid fermentation bring about a change in the beverage assortment for their high nutritive value, vitamins and minerals which are beneficial to human health when consumed. Sweet potato roots (non-boiled/ fully-boiled) were fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum MTCC 1407 at 28 +/- 2 degrees C for 48 h to make lacto- juice. During fermentation both analytical [pH, titratable acidity, lactic acid, starch, total sugar, reducing sugar (g/kg roots), total phenol and beta-carotene (mg/kg roots)] and sensory (texture, taste, aroma, flavour and after taste) analyses of sweet potato lacto-juice were evaluated. The fermented juice was subjected to panelist evaluation for acceptability. There were no significant variations in biochemical constituents (pH, 2.2-3.3; lactic acid, 1.19-1.27 g/kg root; titratable acidity, 1.23-1.46 g/kg root, etc.) of lacto-juices prepared from non-boiled and fully-boiled sweet potato roots except beta-carotene concentration [130 +/- 7.5 mg/kg (fully-boiled roots) and 165 +/- 8.1 mg/kg (non-boiled roots)]. The panelist evaluation scores ranged from 3-4.8 (in a hedonic scale of 1-5) from moderate liking to very much liking of sweet potato lacto-juice. Principal component analyses reduced the eight original analytical variables to three independent components (factors), which accounted for 99.9% of the total variations. Similarly, five original sensory variables were reduced to two independent components, which accounted for 83.1% of the total variations.

Sweet potato (SP) is an important root crop grown all over the world and consumed as a vegetable, boiled, baked or often fermented into food and beverages. The grated SP roots [non-boiled and fully boiled (boiled in water at 100°C for 15 min) were treated with 0.05% of commercial pectinase enzyme (Pectinex, Novoenzyme) in order to extract the juice. The fresh juice was inoculated with Lactobacillus plantarum MTCC 1407 culture at 28 ± 2°C for 48 h to produce lacto-juice (LJ). The anova analysis of analytical data revealed that there was significant effect of boiling conditions (fully boiled and non-boiled) on pH [F (1, 4) = 220.5, P < 0.001), TA [F (1, 4) = 78.89, P < 0.01], starch [F (1, 4) = 26.63, P < 0.01), total sugar [F (1, 4) = 61.36, P < 0.01) and anthocyanin [F (1, 4) = 32.86, P < 0.01) but not on reducing sugar [F (1, 4) = 2.48, P = 0.19). Sensory evaluation rated the SP LJ acceptable based on texture, taste, aroma, flavour and after taste. LJ prepared from fully boiled roots with 10% cane sugar was most preferred by a consumer's panelist based on Linear Discriminant Analysis. Principal component analyses (PCA) reduced the seven original analytical variables to three independent components (factors), which accounted for 99.9% of the total variations. Similarly, six original sensory variables were reduced to two independent components, which accounted for 65.7% of the total variations.

Sweet potato (SP) is an important root crop grown all over the world and consumed as a vegetable, boiled, baked or often fermented into food and beverages. A curd-like product was prepared by fermenting boiled bcarotene-rich SP puree and cow milk with curd (starter) culture (Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus lactis, Streptococcus diacetilactis, etc.). There were not much variation in pH (3.6-3.9), titratable acidity (10-11.8 g kg )1 curd) and lactic acid (LA) (7.9-5.3 g kg )1 curd) contents in SP curd consisting different concentration of SP puree. However, curd with 12-16% SP puree was most preferred by a consumer's panellist. The addition of SP puree (12-16%) made the curd quite firm and imparted flavour, body/texture, minerals, nutrients, antidiabetic substances, b-carotene pigments (antioxidant), dietary fibres and starch (carbohydrate source). The LA bacterial counts in the curd after 18 h of fermentation having 8% and 16% SP were 7 · 10 7 and 14 · 10 7 (CFU mL )1 ), respectively. The consumer evaluation scores ranged from 7 to 8 (in a hedonic scale of 1-9), from moderate liking to very much liking of the SP curd, taking into consideration the sensory attributes such as colour, texture, flavour, sweetness, appearance, etc. Principal component analysis (PCA) reduced the fourteen original analytical (proximate) variables to four independent components (factors), which accounted for 97% of the total variations. Similarly, PCA analysis reduced the seven original sensory attributes to three independent components that accounted for 70% of the total variations.

The global consumption of beer is increasing and consumers are interested in varieties rather than the only traditional beer prepared from malted barley; hence, it is necessary to search for unique potential substrates for beer production. The current study focuses on the preparation technology and the biochemical and sensory characteristics of beer samples by using purple sweet potato (PSP) (Ipomoea batatas L.) flakes as ingredient. Anthocyanin-rich beer was developed by fermenting a combination of PSP flakes and grist (crushed malt) prepared from barley through Saccharomyces cerevisiae without altering the originality of beer preparation. Among the beer samples (prepared from 0, 30, 50 and 100% PSP flakes as adjunct), the beer prepared from 30% PSP flakes + 70% grist was the best as recommended by the sensory panelists, followed by the beer prepared from 50% PSP flakes + 50% grist. The beer prepared with 30% PSP flakes had the following compositions: total soluble solids, 3.57°Brix; starch, 0.77 g/100 mL; total sugar, 6.93 g/100 mL; specific gravity, 1.02; pH, 3.05; titratable acidity, 0.76 g tartaric acid/100 mL; lactic acid, 0.10 mg/100 mL; phenol, 0.21 mg/mL; anthocyanin, 5.10 mg/100 mL; ethanol, 3.77% (v/v) and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging activity, 6.31% at a dose of 250 μg/mL. Strong loading of anthocyanin pigment (+ve), phenol (+ve) and the DPPH scavenging activity (+ve) on PC1 signifies the health attributes of the beverages. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSAnthocyanin-rich sweet potato beer is a novel product that beholds antioxidative properties, unique purple color and low alcohol content (3.77%). The product is well accepted by the sensory panelists. The technology will provide pathway to use sweet potato as ingredient for beer making in large scale. The cheaper cost of sweet potatoes and the simpler technology will attract the brewers to adopt the technology, which can help in the socioeconomic upliftment of several tribal communities of Asia and Africa as they depend on sweet potato cultivation for their livelihood.