Retention of [beta]-carotene in biofortified sweet potato chips after processing

Consumption of biofortified foods such as sweet potatoes with high content of [beta]-carotene may reduce deficiency of this micronutrient. The development of biofortified sweet potato chips expands the distribution and offers an alternative to the consumption of this product. The aim of this study was to evaluate the thermal blanching methods (steam and in boiling water) in [beta]-carotene retention in the production of dehydrated biofortified sweet potato chips with air circulation at 65[degrees]C. The raw material, the chips blanched in steam and in boiling water had a content of [beta]-carotene of 501.86 [+ or -] 53.65, 490.23 [+ or -] 30.00 and 473.91 [+ or -] 11.43 [micro]g [g.sup.-1] (d.b.) respectively. The retention of [beta]-carotene for steam and boiling water blanching was 97.7 and 94.4% respectively. The blanching conditions followed by drying used in the processing to obtain sweet potato chips were adequate as they resulted in [beta]-carotene high retention. Keywords: carotenoids; peroxidase activity; pro-vitamin A; retinol activity equivalents; snack food.