RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUNTER COLOR VALUES AND BETA-CAROTENE CONTENTS IN WHITE-FLESHED AFRICAN SWEET-POTATOES (IPOMOEA-BATATAS LAM)

White-fleshed sweetpotatoes (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam) are a major food crop in Uganda. This study was done to evaluate carotenoid content in sweetpotatoes and to relate the color of the sweetpotatoes to the B-c arotene present. A Hunter Color Tristimulus Meter was used to determin e the color and the beta-carotene was determined by reverse-phase HPLC . Regression analysis was carried out on the color values L, a, b, b/a and tan(-1) b/a to determine which color value could be used to expre ss the content of beta-carotene in white-fleshed sweetpotatoes. The 'b ' color value appeared to be the best estimation for correlation at 0. 74 in this study for raw roots and 0.09 for puree. The 'a' value was 0 .39 for raw roots and 0.16 for puree, L was -0.74 for raw roots and -0 .45 for puree.