Impact of different cooking methods on the flavor and chemical profile of yellow-fleshed table-stock sweetpotatoes (Ipomoea batatas L.)

This study investigated the impact of baking, boiling, and steaming on the taste, flavor, and chemical profile of yellow-fleshed sweetpotatoes (YFSP). Baked YFSP were sweeter, more palatable, and more flavorful than both steamed and boiled YFSP. Baking increased the YFSP soluble sugar content from 9.12% to 36.65%. Specifically, maltose increased by 200-fold and this possibly accounted for the sweetness of baked YFSP. From the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry analysis, the contents of furans and terpenes increased with baking, endowing baked YFSP with an aroma. On the contrary, boiling retained more carotenoids than the other cooking methods. Although cooking clearly altered YFSP, bioactive substances were predominantly preserved as only 72 out of 706 metabolites were identified as differentially accumulated metabolites between cooked and raw samples. Taken together, baked YFSP had high levels of sugars and volatile compounds, and the three cooking methods had little effect on chemical compounds. This comprehensive evaluation of cooked YFSP is a basis for sweetpotato processing and consumer choice.