Effect of Cutting Styles on Quality and Antioxidant Activity of Stored Fresh-Cut Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) Cultivars

Abstract

The effect of cutting styles (slice, pie, and shred) on the quality characteristics and antioxidant activity of purple and yellow flesh sweet potato cultivars during six days of storage at 4 • C was investigated. The results indicated that the sliced and pie samples showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) on the firmness, weight loss, and vitamin C content compared with the whole sweet potato in both cultivars during storage. The pie sample exhibited the highest wound-induced phenolic, flavonoid, and carotenoid accumulation and DPPH radical scavenging activity among the cuts in both cultivars. Moreover, the shredded sample showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity but lower total phenolic and flavonoid content and the lowest antioxidant activity among the samples. Thus, the finding of this study revealed that pie-cut processing has potential in improving the quality and increasing the antioxidant activity of fresh-cut purple and yellow flesh sweet potato cultivars while shredding accelerated the quality deterioration of both sweet potato cultivars. product and cutting styles were one of the most important factors that influence the storage quality and the preservation of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables [9].According to the reports of Li et al. [4] and Grace et al.[10] the biosynthesis and conversion rates of phenolics and flavonoid in fresh-cut produce changed during storage time, depending on the wounding intensity applied to the plant tissue, hence, it is important to investigate the effect of different cutting styles on the quality and antioxidant activity in fresh-cut fruits and vegetables.Purple and yellow sweet potato cultivars, in addition to their nutritive components, are also rich in flavonoid and carotenoids pigments that also contribute to its antioxidant capacity [2,11]. The size of sweet potato roots is relatively large; hence fresh-cut sweet potatoes more convenient and preferable for consumers. Fresh-cut sweet potatoes are processed into frozen, dried, canned, fried, fermented, and pureed products and also used as natural food colorants. Currently, there is little information on the effect of cutting styles on the quality characteristics and antioxidant activity of fresh-cut sweet potato cultivars. The purpose of this study is to fill that research gap by evaluating the effect of cutting styles on the quality characteristics and antioxidant activity of fresh-cut sweet potato cultivars.

A Review of the Composition and Health Benefits of Sweet Potato

“…al (1985), Truong et. al (2018), Dovene et. al (2019) and Dyah et.…”

Polyphenoloxidase (PPO): Effect, Current Determination and Inhibition Treatments in Fresh-Cut Produce

“…Sci. 2021, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9 of 27 out in the literature, processing, even when it comes to cutting styles, can accelerate PPO activity, as it happened in the case of fresh-cut potatoes, where shredding had a negative effect [63] or lettuce, where cutting induced an increase in PPO activity in minimally processed lettuce [64].…”

How Different Cooking Methods Affect the Phenolic Composition of Sweet Potato for Human Consumption (Ipomea batata (L.) Lam)

“…The various bioactive components present in sweet potatoes are susceptible to changes, and those changes that they undergo as a result of storage [13,14], cooking [15][16][17][18] or certain processing methods, such as drying [19], encapsulation by spray drying [2] or even cutting patterns [20], were evaluated.…”

“…Agronomy 2021, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 17 18] or certain processing methods, such as drying [19], encapsulation by spray drying [2] or even cutting patterns [20], were evaluated. The phenolic compounds contained in sweet potatoes which make of them an excellent source of antioxidant compounds are mainly found in its leaves [21,22].…”