Evaluation of some potato cultivars for canning characteristics

Three potato cultivars namely Kufri Chipsona-1, Kufri Ganga and Kufri Jyoti were evaluated for their canning characteristics. Ready-to-eat canned potato cubes were prepared and kept for a period of 6 months at room temperature (25–40°C/RH 35–88%) to assess shelf life properties. Among the physico-chemical parameters studied, K. Chipsona-1 contained the highest amount of dry matter (22.51%), specific gravity (1.085), starch content (14.10%) and lowest amount of total (0.12%) and reducing sugars (0.05%). During storage of canned potato cubes, all the quality parameters remained almost unaffected with the exception of ascorbic acid and can vacuum which decreased, irrespective of cultivars. The mean ascorbic acid and can vacuum loss amounted to 24.5% and 21.6%, respectively after 6 months of storage period. Storage study revealed that canned potato cubes can be safely stored for up to 6 months with desirable quality attributes. This study also demonstrated that manufacturing of canned cubes from varieties of potato generally not in demand is feasible.