Citric acid, effective to avoid browning in cut potatoes

Postharvest, poscosecha, patata, potatoesFresh-cut potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a product widely consumed, but the susceptibility of this tuber to browning is a drawback and limiting factor for its shelf life. This study aimed to evaluate the predisposition of different potato cultivars for being minimally processed, the effect of citric acid in inhibiting browning and the quality of the fried potato during the product shelf-life. For this purpose, potatoes of cultivars Agata, Agria and Caesar were acquired from a local producer, selected, washed in tap water, manually peeled, cut into strips and immersed in citric acid (3%) for 5 minutes. Strips were centrifuged and vacuum packed in polyethylene bags and stored at 3?1?C for 17 days. The use of citric acid decreased the pH of all samples and kept this trend during the entire period of storage. Fresh cut and fried samples of Agata had lower values of dry matter content. The other cultivars showed slight variations, increasing the values of these attributes. The color, pH, dry matter content and texture allowed discrimination between Agata and the other cultivars. The picture is from oriolserra.blogspot.com