SUITABILITY OF POTATO VARIETIES GROWN IN NORTH-EASTERN INDIAN PLAINS FOR PROCESSING

Abstract

Tuber samples of table and processing potato varieties grown in five districts viz., Hooghly, Bardhaman, Medinipore West, Bankura and Birbhum of South Bengal and two districts viz., Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar of North Bengal were collected at the time of harvest in March 2006 and 2007 and processed into fresh fried chips, French fries, flour, flakes and dehydrated chips. Simultaneously, tubers were also analyzed for important processing attributes,such as dry matter, sugars, free amino acids and total phenols. The commonly cultivated potato variety, Kufri Jyoti, showed low tuber dry matter content (13.3-19.6%), high levels of reducing sugars (75.7-240.7 mg/100 g fresh wt) and produced unacceptable chips of dark colour (score 4.5-7.0). Conversely, processing varieties, Kufri Chipsona-1, Kufri Chipsona-3, Atlantic and Lady Rosetta, contained higher dry matter content (19.3-23.3%), lower contents of reducing sugars (21.0-57.7 mg/100 g fresh wt) and produced fresh fried chips of acceptable colour (score 1.75 to 2.75). In general, processing varieties contained lower levels of free amino acids and total phenols which are desirable from processing point of view. Based on tuber shape, yield and sensory characteristics of fries, such as colour, texture and taste, three< varieties viz., Kufri Chipsona-1, Kufri Chipsona-3 and Kufri Surya were found to be most suitable for French fries. The recovery of flakes was maximum in Lady Rosetta (21.7%), followed by Kufri Chipsona-3 (20.8%), Kufri Chipsona1 (19.2%) and Atlantic (19%), while the recovery from other table varieties varied between 10.1 to 16.6%. Dehydrated chips and flour also followed a similar trend as that of flakes.