Abstract:
Frafra potato (Solenostemon rotundifolius) is an underutilized climate-resilient
tuber crop commonly cultivated in the tropics. Different accessions have been
identified and bred to broaden its application in food. This study characterized
the starches extracted from ten accessions, from Ghana (released) and Burkina
Faso (unreleased), in terms of yield, physicochemical, and microstructural
characteristics. The starches did not differ significantly (p < .05) in color (L*)
and amount (35 to 39% dry matter basis). Furthermore, there were no significant differences (p < .05) among them in amylose/amylopectin ratio, syneresis %, granule types and shapes, except for one of the unreleased accessions
(E82), which had a significantly (p < .05) smaller granule size. There were,
however, significant differences (p < .05) in paste clarity of the starch gels,
ranging from 51 to 63% of the starch gels, as well as in the thermal properties
of the starches. The XRD and FTIR spectra showed the starches to be A-type,
typical of tuber starches, with relative crystallinities ranging between 30.5 to
33.5%. The ten Frafra potato cultivars were clustered into two groups using
PCA procedures; one group (Maa-Lana and Nutsugah) clustering on thermal
properties of starch, while the other group (E82, E111, E132, E134, E145,
Manga, Naachem-Tiir, and WAAPP) on paste clarity and change in temperature.
The variations in granule size and thermal characteristics of the starches could
impact the performance, cooking and textural properties, of these Frafra
potato accessions in food applications.
