The present work was carried out aiming to evaluate chemical and physical characteristics of fresh-cut potatoes stored under 5 and 15°C. Potatoes, (Solanum tuberosum L.) ágata and Monalisa were minimally processed as baby potatoes. After processing, the material was packed under partial vacuum and stored at 5 and 15°C for nine days. Every three days tubers were evaluated for firmness, enzymatic activity (polyphenoloxidase and peroxidase), total soluble sugars, starch, and total vitamin C. After nine days of storage, monalisa and ágata potatoes stored under 15°C had a firmness that was 3.3 and 4.3 times lower than the same product right after processing. Polyphenoloxidase activity was approximately stable during the storage period for monalisa potatoes stored under 5°C. Fresh-cut monalisa potatoes had the highest peroxidase activity at 5°C, being 86% higher than ágata potatoes at nine days of storage. For total soluble sugars, monalisa potatoes had 28% more sugars than ágata right after processing. Both cultivars showed a tendency to increase starch content on the first three days of storage, for both temperatures studied. For both cultivars, it was verified that storage at 5°C allowed higher retention of total vitamin C content.
enzymes; minimal processing; peroxidase; polyphenoloxidase; starch; sugars
