The texture of potato mashes is impacted by blanching induced changes in their extracellular starch fractions

The texture of potato mash significantly influences consumer satisfaction. We here investigated the impact of blanching and different methods thereof on the texture and extractable extracellular fractions (EEFs) of potato mash when extracted with water or with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to seek determining factors of potato mash texture. Mashes prepared from potatoes blanched in 2.04 mM CaCl₂ (CaB-M) exhibited hardness (24.9 N) and stickiness (1.0 N·s) readings intermediate to those from potatoes that were not blanched (NB-M, 19.2 N and 1.2 N·s), or blanched in deionized water (WaB-M, 30.5 N and 0.6 N·s), which aligned with their levels of intact cells. Starch was the main constituent (57.2 % - 64.4 %, w/w) in all EEFs and more starch was present in (1) NB-M and (2) the DMSO extracts. The chain length distributions of DMSO-extracted extracellular starch (DEES) revealed that the amylopectin content increased in the order WaB-M (46.3 %), CaB-M (55.1 %), and NB-M (76.6 %), which was attributed to more intracellular amylopectin being released to the extracellular phase of mashes. The relative contents of shorter chain amylose (degree of polymerization 110-1000) and the DEES yield were significantly correlated to the hardness while the yield of DEEFs was positively correlated with the stickiness.