Phenolic compounds and antioxidants in colored potato chips over storage
What it found
In colored-flesh potato chips stored for up to 24 weeks, levels of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity dropped, especially anthocyanins, while color stayed mostly stable.
The chips were tested in the lab, not in people.
What they found
Phenolic compounds drop
Total anthocyanins fell from an average of 4.85 mg per kg to below the limit of detection by week 23. Total hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives dropped from 99.60 mg per kg to 31.44 mg per kg over the same period.
Antioxidant activity falls
Antioxidant activity measured by CUPRAC started at 3.22 micromoles Trolox equivalents per gram and dropped by 35.02% after two weeks, then stayed fairly stable until week 9. By the end, it was close to 2 micromoles per gram. Other methods showed similar decreases.
Color stays stable
The proportion of yellow, red, and blue colors in the chips did not change much over the 24 weeks. Color intensity decreased from 0.60 to 0.32, but the overall hue remained similar.
HCADs more stable than anthocyanins
Hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives were more stable than anthocyanins during storage. The most abundant HCAD, 5-caffeoylquinic acid, started at 97.82 mg per kg and ended at 26.08 mg per kg.
What the authors conclude
“Potato chips made from colored-flesh potatoes might be an optimal alternative snack for global consumption given their high phenolic compound content, including anthocyanins and HCADs, which possess high antioxidant activity and other potential benefits for human health.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say that chips made from colored-flesh potatoes are a good source of phenolic compounds, mainly HCADs, which remained stable during a storage period of twenty-four weeks.
- They note that although colored potatoes are rich in anthocyanins, they do not constitute a stable food matrix for anthocyanins when cooked as chips since the anthocyanins were almost completely degraded after 23 weeks of storage.
- They suggest that potato chips made from colored-flesh potatoes might be an optimal alternative snack for global consumption given their high phenolic compound content, including anthocyanins and HCADs, which possess high antioxidant activity and other potential benefits for human health.
How it was done
Colored potato chips are a newer alternative to traditional chips because they contain more phenolic compounds like anthocyanins and hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, which might make them healthier. But little was known about how stable these compounds are during storage.
Researchers stored bags of commercial colored-flesh potato chips at room temperature in the dark and tested them weekly for two months, then every fifteen days, up to 24 weeks. They measured phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and color in the chips.
What it can’t tell you
- This study was done on potato chips in the lab, not in people, so it cannot show what health effects eating these chips might have.
- The chips were stored under specific conditions (room temperature, dark), so results might differ with other storage conditions.
- The study measured phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity, but it did not test whether these translate to health benefits in humans.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- University of Hohenheim, Germany
The paper
- Title
- Stability of Phenolic Compounds, Antioxidant Activity and Color Parameters in Colored-Flesh Potato Chips
- Type
- Study
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Bravo C, Peña F, Nahuelcura J, et al (2023). Stability of Phenolic Compounds, Antioxidant Activity and Color Parameters in Colored-Flesh Potato Chips. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). doi:10.3390/molecules28166047Free full textPubMed 37630299DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error