CHANGES IN THE SURFACE-MORPHOLOGY OF STARCH GRANULES OF THE CULTIVATED POTATO, SOLANUM-TUBEROSUM L DURING STORAGE

Low temperature sweetening is a major problem to chip and crisp manufa cturers as it results in the production of unacceptably dark fry produ cts. Cryo-electron microscopy was used to examine the changes which oc cur to the surface morphology of starch granules from tubers of cultiv ars Record and Brodick stored at 4-degrees-C and 10-degrees-C. At harv est, the surface of the starch granules was smooth but during storage the surface of the granules became progressively more pitted. The feas ibility of using this technique to determine whether increased starch breakdown occurs at low storage temperatures is discussed.