Volatile profiles of cooked organic sweetpotato by electronic nose

Flavor consists of taste plus aroma, with aromatic compounds presenting an important part of food selection. The aroma makes our food more pleasing to the eye, diverse, and inviting to eat. As aroma and cooking methods are critical factors influencing consumer acceptance, more information on the aromatic volatile compounds in boiled sweetpotato cultivars is needed as those currently available are insufficient. Slips (rooted cuttings) of four orange-fleshed sweetpotato cultivars - Beauregard, Evangeline, Orleans, and Covington - were cultivated on the Tennessee State University certified Organic Farm. After 120 days, cultivars were harvested and cured for 7 days under controlled environmental conditions. After storage, sweetpotato roots were prepared by boiling, and the electronic nose was used to discriminate the aroma profiles of sweetpotato volatiles. The volatile compounds were identified and analyzed. Approximately 40 aromatic volatile compounds including active volatile categories were alcohols, acids, aldehydes, esters, ketones, pyrazine, terpinenes, and phenylpropenes. The ability to understand sweetpotato flavors could help researchers establish tastes and aromas that are acceptable to consumers and would lead to an increase in demand for the crop in the fresh market and potential economic gains for producers.