Effect of cultivars, wound healing and storage on sensory quality and chemical components in pre-peeled potatoes

This study deals with eating quality of pre-peeled potatoes. The effect of raw material quality (cultivar, duration of wound healing and storage) on chemical composition of raw potatoes, and sensory quality and aroma composition of cooked pre-peeled potatoes were determined. Potatoes were knife peeled, vacuum-packed, stored at 4 °C, and evaluated after 6 days of shelf-life. Significant differences in chemical composition, sensory quality and aroma composition were found among the 6 cultivars. Storage (0, 112 and 6 months) also affected the sensory quality and the aroma composition. For surface hardening an effect of wound healing time (2 or 4 weeks at 14 °C) was observed, since 4 weeks resulted in lower intensity in surface hardening. During long-term storage the intensity in surface hardening decreased. The aroma compounds linalool, methional, nonanal and decanal were correlated to potato flavour and rancidness, whereas off-flavour/off-taste seemed to be correlated to nonvolatile components. Enzymatic browning of potatoes was positively correlated with PPO activity, tyrosin and chlorogenic acid a well as aspartic and glutamic acid, but negatively correlated to caffeic acid. The study showed that the quality of pre-peeled potatoes is very sensitive to raw material quality, and the time of year being processed.