The Modified CPEM (Cooked Potato Effective Mass) Method: an Instrumental Assessment of Potato Sloughing

The cooked potato effective mass (CPEM) method for potato sloughing assessment involves cooking the potato flakes on the sieve in a stirred water bath and periodically determining their effective mass during cooking. The final cooking curve divided into the cooking and breaking parts provides two parameters: the cooking time (ct) is the time required for starting disintegration, while the slope of the breaking part (sbp) describes the disintegration rate. The method enables a detailed analysis of the cooking properties in relation to the tuber density. The modified analysis of the cooking curve is based on polynomial approximation of the breaking part. It provides the time of cooking (CTmax) required to reach the maximal disintegration rate (mdr). These new parameters represent an alternative to the existing ones, their values are easier to obtain from the individual cooking curves, and therefore they can serve as a base for further development of the CPEM tests.