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The Effect of Different Cooking Methods on Phenolics and Vitamin C in Developmentally Young Potato Tubers

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Abstract

New potatoes (also known as “baby potatoes”) are harvested at a young developmental age and have higher concentrations of some phytonutrients than mature tubers. Assessing the potential of new potatoes in the diet and their suitability as targets for further nutritional enhancement requires knowledge of how well targeted phytonutrients survive cooking. New potatoes from the cultivars ‘Piccolo,’ ‘Bintje’ and ‘Purple Majesty’ were microwaved, baked, boiled, steamed or stir-fried. LCMS analysis showed that total phenolics, chlorogenic acids, flavonols and vitamin C did not significantly decrease after cooking by any of these methods. Cooking typically resulted in an increase in the recoverable amounts of these compounds, with chlorogenic acid increasing from 2.14 to 2.92 mg/g DW and rutin from 7.4 to 13.2 μg/g DW after baking in ‘Purple Majesty.’ Supporting this finding is that antioxidant capacity showed similar results with Trolox equivalents increasing from 28.7 (raw) to 36.3 µmol/g DW after baking in ‘Bintje.’ These data suggest that new potatoes present an opportunity to more fully utilize the nutritional potential of potatoes. This work shows that significant loses of phenolic acids, vitamin C, and flavonols need not occur during cooking and confirms that these are viable targets to further increase by molecular or breeding approaches.

Resumen

Papas nuevas (también conocidas como “papas bebe”), se cosechan en una edad temprana de desarrollo y tienen concentraciones más altas de algunos fitonutrientes que los tubérculos maduros. El análisis del potencial de papas nuevas en la dieta y su ubicación como blancos de incremento nutricional adicional, requiere del conocimiento de qué tan bien los fitonutrientes de estudio sobrevivan al cocinado. Papas nuevas de los cultivares “Piccolo”, “Bintje” y “Purple Majesty” pasaron por microondas, puré, hervido, al vapor o al freído. El análisis de LCMS mostró que los fenoles totales, los ácidos clorogénicos, flavonoides y vitamina C, no disminuyeron significativamente después del cocinado por cualquiera de estos métodos. El cocinado típico dio por resultado un aumento en las cantidades recobrables de estos compuestos, con un aumento del ácido clorogénico de 2.14 a 2.92 mg/g en peso seco y de rutina de 7.4 a 13.2 μg/g de peso seco después del cocinado en puré de “Purple Majesty”. En respaldo a este resultado es que la capacidad antioxidante mostró resultados similares con equivalentes Trolox aumentando de 28.7 (crudo) a 36.3 µmol/g de peso seco después del cocinado como puré en “Bintje”. Estos datos sugieren que las papas nuevas presentan una oportunidad para una utilización más completa del potencial nutritivo de las papas. Este trabajo muestra que las pérdidas significativas de ácidos fenólicos, vitamina C, y flavonoides no necesariamente se tienen que presentar durante el cocinado, y confirma que estos son blancos viables para un aumento posterior por estrategias moleculares o de mejoramiento.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mel Martin for help in obtaining new potatoes and Aymeric Goyer for assisting in the cooking. We are grateful to the Washington State Potato Commission for funding part of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Washington State University, 24106 N. Bunn Rd., Prosser, WA, 99350, USA

    Duroy A. Navarre & Joanne Holden

  2. Irrigated Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Washington State University, Prosser, WA, 99350, USA

    Roshani Shakya & Syam Kumar

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  1. Duroy A. Navarre
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  2. Roshani Shakya
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Correspondence to Duroy A. Navarre.

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Navarre, D.A., Shakya, R., Holden, J. et al. The Effect of Different Cooking Methods on Phenolics and Vitamin C in Developmentally Young Potato Tubers. Am. J. Pot Res 87, 350–359 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-010-9141-8

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