Author
 |
Bethke, Paul |
|
WIBERLEY-BRADFORD, AMY - University Of Wisconsin |
|
Submitted to: Common Tater
Publication Type: Trade Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 8/12/2016 Publication Date: 9/1/2016 Citation: Bethke, P.C., Wiberley-Bradford, A.E. 2016. New insights into cold-induced sweetening. Common Tater. 68(9):20-23. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Potato tubers accumulate sugars when exposed to low temperatures. This process is referred to as cold-induced sweetening or low-temperature sweetening. The importance of cold-induced sweetening to the potato processing industry cannot be overemphasized. Cold-induced sweetening decreases potato tuber starch content and increases the contents of the so-called reducing sugars glucose and fructose. Cold-induced sweetening can alter taste and texture, darkens post-fry color and increases acrylamide content of potato chips and French fries. Because of adverse effects resulting from cold-induced sweetening, processing potatoes cannot be stored at the lower temperatures that would naturally prevent sprouting and inhibit disease. In this article we describe the basics of cold-induce sweetening and summarize recent data that provide new insights into this process. Cold-induced sweetening depends on numerous temperature-controlled metabolic activities. These activities include starch synthesis, starch breakdown, sucrose formation and invertase production. For any given variety, different parts of the cold-induced sweetening process are triggered at different temperatures during cooling. Furthermore, the storage temperature that initiates a change in one of these individual activities in one variety may not be the same temperature that initiates that change in another variety. This complexity explains part of the challenge in breeding processing potatoes for low temperature storage and in developing storage management procedures for new varieties: metabolic activities common to all potatoes are regulated by temperature in many different ways. |
