The textural analysis of cooked potato. 3. Simple methods for determining texture

Summary

Separate methods were developed for measuring softness, i.e. ease of cutting, and dryness, i.e. the tendency to cell separation. Pieces of potato tissue 30 mm long and 10 mm square were cooked in boiling water for 5, 10 or 15 min. To measure softness, the force required to cut the tissue with a thin stainless steel wire, inserted into a razor cut 1 mm deep, was recorded. To measure dryness, the tuber segments were crushed between two plates to half their original thickness and the crushed tissue separated on a 1 mm sieve. The <1 mm fraction consisted largely of single cells and was measured by its packed volume. Both softness and dryness increased with cooking time in a range of six cultivars. There was some correlation between them, and a closer correlation between dryness and specific gravity. The results agreed with previous organoleptic texture determinations.