Potatoes dietary fiber content

The bulk of potato tubers is made up of parenchyma cells that have thin, non-lignified, primary cell walls (Reeve et al., 1971 Bush et al, 1999, 2001 Parker et al., 2001). Unless stated to the contrary, potato cell walls refers to parenchyma cell walls. These walls and their component polysaccharides are important for a number of reasons they form part of the total intake of dietary fiber, influence the texture of cooked potato tubers and form much of the waste pulp that is produced in large amounts by the potato starch industry when starch is isolated. The pulp is usually used as cattle feed, but potentially could be processed in a variety of ways to increase its value (Mayer, 1998). For example, the whole cell-wall residues could be used as afood ingredient to alter food texture and to increase its dietary-fiber content, or cell-wall polysaccharides could be extracted and used in a similar way or for various industrial applications (Turquois et al., 1999 Dufresne et al, 2000 Harris and Smith, 2006 Kaack et al., 2006). 

Total dietary fiber (TDF) content of potato dry matter is determined according to the AACC (2000) method 32-05 following the total dietary fiber assay procedure (Megazyme k-TDFR 01/05). This is a gravimetric method that is simpler and faster than other analysis methods. In addition to total dietary fiber content, both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber content can be determined by this method. 

Relevance to potatoes Potatoes have thin cell walls so are not rich in NSPs. They are a valuable source of carbohydrate energy, but would not on their own provide enough dietary fiber to meet daily requirements. Increasing RS levels partially compensates for the low dietary fiber content of potatoes. 

---