Батат

Botany and origin

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of the world. The sweet potato and the potato are only distantly related, both being in the order Solanales. The sweet potato is native to the warm tropical regions of South America in modern Ecuador. The flesh of the root ranges from beige through white, red, pink, violet, yellow, orange, and purple. Depending on the cultivar and conditions, the tuberous roots mature in 2-9 months. In 2020, global production of sweet potatoes was 89 million tonnes, led by China with 55% of the world total.

Aroma of roasted sweet potato

A total of 46 volatile compounds were detected in roasted sweet potatoes. The 46 compounds include sesquiterpenoids and their oxides (13), furan compounds (12), ketones (6) and nitrogen-containing compounds (4). The aroma and flavor of roasted sweet potatoes mainly come from thermal reactions such as carotenoid degradation, caramelization, the Maillard reaction and Strecker degradation. Roasting for 1 to 2 hours gave the highest acceptance score, with a golden-yellow color, sweet taste and fibrous texture. After roasting for 2.5 to 3 hours the sweet potatoes became brown and gained a burnt and sour taste.

Sweetness and starch

Saccharification of sweetpotato storage roots is a process in which the starch is converted into soluble sugar during cooking. Maltose is the final product of sweetpotato saccharification, which determines the final sweetness. β-Amylase is a thermostable enzyme that hydrolyses starch during cooking of sweetpotato storage roots. Cultivars with white or pale yellow flesh are less sweet and moist than those with red, pink, or orange flesh. In the tested samples, the highest maltose content was found in sweet potatoes that were peeled and roasted for 1 to 2 hours.

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