Ascorbic Acid and Citric Acid Treatments Increase the Shelf Life of Fresh-Cut Potato: Cultivar Effect

Abstract

Potato cultivars were processed as minimally processed products (MPP) and treated with different concentrations of ascorbic (AA) and citric acids (CA) in order to investigate the effect of these treatments on the overall quality of MPP from ‘Innovator’, ‘Newen INTA’ and ‘Spunta’ cultivars. Colour changes, PPO activity and bioactive compounds of fresh-cut potato differed amongst potato cultivars and treatments. ‘Innovator’ had the least colour changes and low enzymatic activity. ‘Newen INTA’ highly susceptible to browning was the one that presented the highest values of polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity. Treatments applied kept microbiological counts and global appearance during 10 days of storage. Considering the different susceptibility of cultivars to enzymatic browning, the results obtained provide crucial information to select the best treatment to keep the overall quality of MPP of these important cultivars of Southeastern Buenos Aires, Argentina, as a useful tool for the industry.