A cost effective technology for isolation of potato starch and its utilization in formulation of ready to cook, non cereal, and non glutinous soup mix

Commercial starch extraction is a multi-step process which requires high capital cost and infrastructure. The present study aimed at exploring a low cost process for small scale/on-farm processing of potato for isolation of starch which included potato grinding, slurry filtration, starch settling, increased number of starch washings to obtain maximum yield and purity followed by starch drying. Two commercial cultivars (Kufri-Chipsona-3 and Lady Rosette) and two commonly grown cultivars (Kufri Pukhraj and Kufri Ganga) were used for the experiments. The isolated starches varied significantly (p < 0.05) in terms of their physico-chemical, functional and pasting properties. Starch isolated from Kufri Pukhraj, an underutilized potato cultivar was selected for making non-cereal soup mix based upon its distinct pasting characteristics such as higher peak (9239 cP), hold (4188 cP), final (4891 cP), and lower set back (503 cP) viscosities. Four different formulations of soup mixes were prepared by varying the proportion (40-55%) of potato starch. Formulation containing 40% potato starch was found to be most suitable on the basis of functional, rheological, pasting and sensory characteristics. Storage studies indicated that 40% potato starch soup mix can be stored safely for 4 months. The developed process holds potential to extract starch from commercial as well as non-commercial cultivars on a farm gate level with a high yield of 11.48-16.51% and it can prove to be a commercial viable venture with cost of production of 1 kg starch 0.61 USD (INR 44.84) corresponding to sale price of 0.82 USD (INR 60) for the Indian market and it can be calculated likewise for other markets.

Automated summary

The study aimed at exploring a low-cost process for small-scale processing of potatoes for starch extraction, with significant variations observed in physicochemical, functional, and pasting properties of starch isolated from different potato cultivars.