Characterisation of flour, starch and fibre obtained from sweet potato (kumara) tubers, and their utilisation in biscuit production

Sweet potato (kumara) tubers of differing colours (orange, red and white) were used to produce tuber flour, a purified starch fraction and an isolated fibre extract. The fractions from each tuber colour were added into a biscuit mixture, and the effects of tuber source and fraction composition were observed in relation to the physico-chemical characteristics of biscuits. Addition of sweet potato flour and fibre fractions to white wheat flour significantly reduced the pasting properties (peak and final viscosity) of the resulting gels by up to seven-fold compared with the control wheat flour gel (as determined by the Rapid Visco Analyser). The addition of sweet potato starch affected the pasting properties of wheat flour–sweet potato starch mixes to a lesser extent. Biscuit texture (force required to cause a biscuit to fracture) was significantly reduced with the incorporation of sweet potato fibre into the biscuit dough preparation, this was linked to a reduction in biscuit thickness and spread ratio. However, the addition of sweet potato flour and starch resulted in biscuits of similar firmness as the control biscuits.