ARS | Publication request: A Functional mathematical index for predicting effects of food processing on eight sweet potato(Ipomoea batatas)cultivars

Submitted to: Journal of Food Composition and Analysis
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: April 4, 2012
Publication Date: May 11, 2012
Citation: Finotti, E., Bersani, E., Del Prete, E., Friedman, M. 2012. A Functional mathematical index for predicting effects of food processing on eight sweet potato(Ipomoea batatas)cultivars. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2012.04.001.

Interpretive Summary: Phenolic compounds play a fundamental role in the health of the sweet potato plant because they protect it against attacks by insects and phytopathogens. They are also reported to inhibit pathogenic bacteria and bacterial toxins. In a collaborative study with Italian scientists at the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione, Rome, Italy, we developed a functional mathematical index that makes it possible to predict the effect of home processing conditions on the content of bioactive compounds of new sweet potato varieties, without the need to subject the sweet potatoes to various cooking conditions. The mathematical concept developed in the present study is not based on additive effects of concentrations of bioactive compounds in different sweet potato cultivars. The approach buffers(smoothes)the effects of the experimentally determined concentration values into the index. The method can be used detect critical points in order to promote health effects and to study different classes of food exposed to other processing conditions, such as acid and alkaline pH, oxidants, ultraviolet and '-radiation, as well as effects of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms on food quality and safety.

Technical Abstract: In this paper we apply an improved functional mathematical index (FMI), modified from those presented in previous publications, to define the influence of different cooking processes of eight sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) cultivars on composition of six bioactive phenolic compounds (flavonoids). The index allows the evaluation of nutritional, safety, and processing aspects of the following six phenolic compounds: neochlorogenic acid (3-CQA),cryptochlorogenic acid (4-CQA), chlorogenic acid (5-CQA), and three isochlorogenic acids, namely isochlorogenic acid A (3,5-diCQA), isochlorogenic acid B (3,4-diCQA), and isochlorogenic acid C(4,5-diCQA). These sweet potato components are considered to be the most representative phenolic compounds in this widely consumed food. The results of the mathematical analysis suggest that the derived total and individual FMI values provide a tool for predicting the relative adverse effects of food-processing effects (boiling, deep frying, microwaving, oven baking, sautéing, and steaming) on the evaluated phenolic compounds of eight sweet potato varieties. The use of the FMI makes it possible to predict the effects of processing conditions on the content of phenolic compounds of new sweet potato varieties, without the need to actually subject the sweet potatoes to the various cooking conditions.