Author(s):

Jaivir Singh, Ekta sharma, Dinesh Kumar Yadav, Neelesh Chauhan, Vivak Kumar, Samsher and Suresh Chandra

Abstract: Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is an important source of food and energy for millions of people in the tropics where they are grown continuously throughout the year (Huang et al. 2010). Sweet potato is one of the five most important food crops in developing countries. It is one of the most efficient food crops in terms of caloric value per cultivated area, being relatively easy to grow even on poor and dried soil. The dry matter production potential of certain varieties of sweet potato vines may be as high as 4.3–6.0 tons per hectare. The value of sweet potato is attributed to high yield, palatability and crude protein content. Sweet potato, which is one of the most important tubers, is largely distributed in the tropical area. It plays a basic role in the people’s diet of tropical countries. Tropical tubers are either home processed or industrially processed at various scales. Nowadays, industrial processes must be improved in order to enhance tuber uses and to satisfy consumption requirements (Cnph. Embrapa, 2005). Osmotic dehydration is widely used for the partial removal of water from plant tissues by immersion in a hypertonic (osmotic) solution. The driving force for the diffusion of water from the tissue into the solution is provided by the high osmotic pressure of the hypertonic solution. The diffusion of water is accompanied by the simultaneous counter diffusion of solute from the osmotic solution into the tissue. Since the membrane responsible for osmotic transport is not perfectly selective, other solutes present in the cells can also be leached into the osmotic solution (Kowalska et al. 2001; Park et al. 2002). Osmotic dehydration is generally used as an upstream treatment before further processing such as freezing, freeze drying, vacuum drying and air drying. It also increases sugar to acid ratio, improves texture and stability of the pigment and increase storage (Raoult-Wack et al. 1994). It is effective even at ambient temperature, so heat damage to texture, colour and flavour of food are minimized (Torregginni et al. 2001; Rastogi et al. 2004).

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