By Jund Rian A. Doringo
FNRI-DOST S&T Media Service
Rootcrops are generally rich in complex carbohydrates and dietary
fiber. Starchy roots and tubers are mainly used as human food, animal feed or
manufactured to produce starch and alcohol.
According to the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), root and tuber crops
are a staple food and main source of calories for an estimated 700 million poor
people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The National Nutrition Survey
(NNS) conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department
of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST) in 2008 revealed that starchy roots and
tubers are consumed at 17 grams daily or about two percent of the total food
intake of Filipino households.
The NNS found that there is a
decreasing trend in consumption of starchy roots and tubers among Filipino
households from 1978 to 2008. Sweet potato is one of the commonly-consumed
starchy roots and tubers in the Philippines, along with potato, taro or gabi, and cassava. Around four percent
of Filipino households eat sweet potatoes regularly.
Sweet potatoes or locally
known as kamote, a seasonal root crop
grown in tropical and subtropical regions like the Philippines, is rich in
beta-carotene, vitamin B6, manganese, and potassium. In impoverished families
in the provinces and in some parts in the metro, sweet potatoes are an
important food crop for they are much easier to cultivate and more affordable
than rice, hence an excellent source of energy and nutrients for the entire
family.
Sweet potatoes, though often
eaten as is after boiling or baking, are common ingredients in some Filipino
delicacies such as sinigang or sour
soup, ginataan or sweetened coconut
milk dish with various root crops, jackfruit, and glutinous rice balls, and kamote-cue or sugar-coated sweet potato
slices fried and skewered on thin bamboo sticks.
Seeing the potential goodness
of sweet potatoes, the FNRI-DOST developed frozen, ready-to-fry sweet potato
fries using food extrusion technology.
Food extrusion is a very
important food processing operation. Extrusion is a process in which the food
ingredient is pushed through an orifice or a die of a given shape. It mixes and
shapes foods such as biscuit dough and pasta without cooking them, using cold
extrusion, while producing a wide range of products such as crisp snack foods
and sugar confectionery using hot extrusion.
After a series of sensory
evaluation from panelists, the ready-to-cook sweet potato fries were found
acceptable and safe. It contains 505 calories of energy, 1.8 grams of protein,
4.7 grams of dietary fiber, and 854 micrograms (µg) of beta-carotene per 100
grams, thus a good source of vitamin A.
With appropriate packaging
strategies and shelf-life studies, the ready-to-cook sweet potato fries
extrusion technology can be transferred to interested small and medium
businesses or local government units for their livelihood or social projects.
For more information on food and nutrition, please
contact: Dr. Mario V. Capanzana, Director, Food and Nutrition Research
Institute, Department of Science and Technology, Bicutan, Taguig City;
trunkline: 837 2071 local 2296 or 2287; telephone/fax no.: 837 3164, email:
mvc@fnri.dost.gov.ph or mar_v_c@yahoo.com; website: http://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph
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