A Review on Post-Harvest Profile of Sweet Potato

Due to rapid increase in demand for grain both as food and feed, there is an urgent need substitution of grain starch with other starch substrate like sweet potato for food security and bioenergy production.Sweet potato,a bio-efficient crop grown for edible roots has spread into Africa, Asia, Europe and East Indies through Batatas line and to the Philippines from Central and South America. Sweet potatoes may be harvested whenever they reach a marketable size. Under good growing conditions, harvesting may begin 90 to 100 days after planting of some varieties and continue until well after frost has killed the vines and leaves. Sweet potatoes should be stored between 12 and 16°C (54 and 61°F) with a RH of 80-95% and proper ventilation during storage to maximize potential storage time. Respiration causes the production of CO2, which will act to increase the rate of spoilage. Thus Sweet potato possess unique physic-chemical characteristics of starch for value addition and industrial use.