Seon-Kyeong Han

Difference of Starch Characteristics of Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) by Cultivated Regions

We investigated out the effect of cultivation region on the physicochemical characteristics of starch in six sweetpotato cultivars. The following sweetpotato cultivars were analyzed: Daeyumi, Shingeonmi, Jinhongmi, Shinyulmi, Yulmi, and Yeonhwangmi. Samples were cultivated in Muan, Iksan, Nonsan, Boryeong and Hamyang. The soil texture was found to be sandy loam in Muan, Iksan, and Boryeong, sandy clay loam in Nonsan, and loam in Hamyang. The starch content of the sweetpotato was higher in Muan than in Hamyang. The amylose content was 22.3-30.9%, and the highest amylose content was found in samples from Iksan. Rapid viscosity analysis showed that the samples from Hamyang had the lowest values of pasting temperature, while samples of the Daeyumi cultivar had the highest values. Thermal analysis with a differential scanning calorimeter showed that the Muan samples had the highest values of onset temperature, maximum peak temperature, and completion temperature, and the samples from Hamyang had the lowest values. There was no difference between the cultivation regions or the cultivar in the X-ray pattern of the starch or its appearance in scanning electron micrographs. Therefore, the results of this study confirm that cultivation region and cultivar play an important role in determining the quality of sweetpotato and the physicochemical characteristics of sweetpotato starch.

Physicochemical Characteristics of Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) Starch Depending on Cultivation Periods

This study was performed to understand the effect of cultivation periods on the physicochemical characteristics of the starch of five sweetpotato cultivars, cultivated in Muan, Korea. Starch, protein, and ash contents increased with increased cultivation period, whereas amylose content decreased. Rapid viscosity analysis showed that the pasting temperature, peak viscosity, breakdown, setback and final viscosity increased with increased cultivation period. However, trough and final viscosity decreased. Although the onset temperature and peak temperature values increased, the conclusion temperature did not show any consistent patterns by differential scanning calorimetry. X-ray diffraction showed that the starch samples had C-type crystallinity irrespective of the cultivation period and cultivar. The starch granules were dominantly round and oval, or polygonal irrespective the cultivation period. The bigger the particle size was, the longer the cultivation period was.