Abstract: The effects of seven cooking methods (steaming, boiling, microwaving, baking, air-frying without oil, airfrying with oil and frying) on micronutrients, umami nucleotides, texture, color and sensory quality of ‘Zihuabai’ potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) were investigated and the quality indexes of cooked potatoes were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed that the minimum loss of macronutrients after steaming and microwaving was observed compared to others cooking methods; microwaving significantly maximized the content of umami nucleotides. The texture properties were significantly influenced by air-frying without oil; cooked potatoes were much deeper in color after airfrying with oil and frying; the sensory score of boiled potatoes was the highest. The overall quality scores of seven cooked potatoes, as determined by PCA, followed the decreasing order of air-frying with oil > microwaving > frying > boiling > baking > steaming > air-frying without oil. In conclusion, steaming is a better choice for pre-cooking before potato deep processing; air-frying with oil can maintain better quality of cooked potatoes, while microwaving can meet consumer demands for low-fat foods.

Key words: potato, cooking method, quality, principal component analysis