The Effect of UV-C Stimulation of Potato Tubers and Soaking of Potato Strips in Water on Color and Analyzed Color by CIE Lab

• Published in: Sustainability 2020-04, Vol.12 (8), p.3487
• Main Authors: Sobol, Zygmunt, Jakubowski, Tomasz, Nawara, Piotr
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su12083487

The color of French fries is an organoleptic attribute indicative of this product quality and also a reliable indicator of its safety. The darker the product color, the higher its acrylamide concentration. Acrylamide is an organic compound of the amide group showing neurotoxic and potential mutagenic actions in the human body. The content of acrylamide in fried potato products essentially depends on the contents of reducing sugars in intermediates of French fries’ production. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of UV-C irradiation and the soaking of potato strips in water on French fries’ color. The study was conducted on French fries obtained from tubers of the Innovator variety. The study was performed with the use of a special chamber for UV-C irradiation of biological samples and the CIE L*a*b* model for color analysis. The results of the study demonstrated that UV-C stimulation of potato tubers before processing had a beneficial effect on French fries’ color while the blanching of potato strips and soaking in water at a temperature of 40 °C resulted in the production of French fries lighter in color.